In the Hands of Fate II: Dead Man's Chest
by Lyra Raine Sparrow
Summary: The past year has been great. It's the up-coming one Luna's worried about. She's forced to choose between keeping Jack or her Romanian family. Unfortunately, this ultimatium couldn't have come at a worst time. Davy Jones is back to settle Jack's debt and Jack's pulling everyone down with him. Fate's never been a more fickle bitch. And she's about to get worse.
1. Chapter 1

_**In the Hands of Fate II: Dead Man's Chest  
Chapter one**_

"Come on, Luna!" Jack called to me, "Come join the festivities, they are, after all, in your honor."

I rolled my eyes as he took my hand and pulled me out of my seat. "I don't see the reason to remind me I'm twenty-nine."

He smiled at me brightly, showing his gold teeth. "You're only twenty-nine once, love."

"Miss Barbossa!" Gibbs called to me, "Why don't you grace us with a song?"

I shook my head. "What if I didn't want to?"

Jack wrapped his arms around me and murmured in my ear, "I'll force you off the plank."

"Oh? In that case, I'll just have to sing wont I?" I smirked. "_Cu excepţia cazului în_... unless I put a curse on you."

"But you'd never do that."

"Oh, but wouldn't I?" I laughed and snatched the guitar from one of the crew members. My skirt snagged on the deck a couple of times as I walked over to an unoccupied crate.

I picked at the guitar for a little bit, just messing around. I started a round of Yo Ho (A Pirate's Life for Me) before everyone started to complain.

"Okay, okay," I called over the crew, "I do have a little something I've been working on."

I strummed the instrument until the rhythm created in my head flowed out.

"_I've practiced this for hours, gone round and round  
And now I think that I've got it all down  
And as I say it louder I love how it sounds  
Cause I'm not taking the easy way out  
Not wrapping this in ribbons  
Shouldn't have to give a reason why_

_It's no surprise I won't be here tomorrow  
I can't believe that I stayed till today  
Yeah you and I will be a tough act to follow  
But I know in time we'll find this was no surprise_

_It came out like a river once I let it out  
When I thought that I wouldn't know how  
Held onto it forever just pushing it down  
Felt so good to let go of it now  
Not wrapping this in ribbons  
Shouldn't have to give a reason why_

_It's no surprise I won't be here tomorrow  
I can't believe that I stayed till today  
There's nothing here in this heart left to borrow  
There's nothing here in this soul left to say_

_Don't be surprised when we hate this tomorrow  
God knows we tried to find an easier way  
Yeah you and I will be a tough act to follow  
But I know in time we'll find this was no surprise_

_Our favorite place we used to go  
The warm embrace that no one knows  
The loving look that's left your eyes  
That's why this comes as no, as no surprise_

_If I could see the future and how this plays out  
I bet it's better than where we are now  
But after going through this  
it's easier to see the reason why_

_It's no surprise I won't be here tomorrow  
I can't believe that I stayed till today  
Yeah you and I will be a tough act to follow  
But I know in time we'll find this was no surprise_

_The kiss goodnight, it comes with me  
Both wrong and right, our memories  
The whispering before we sleep  
just one more thing that you can't keep_

_Our favorite place we used to go  
The warm embrace that no one knows  
The loving look that's left your eyes  
But I know in time we'll find this was no surprise_"

As I sang I kept my eyes downcast, avoiding Jack's intent gaze. I knew that he knew that I wrote this song from personal experience. Actually, most of the songs I have written are from personal experience. I just didn't know if he realized that what I said, or sang really, just now was about him and I really was leaving tomorrow as soon as we docked in Tortuga.

"You're such a wonderful writer Luna. Have you ever thought of becoming a novelist?" Pintel asked me.

I nodded. "I have, many a times. But the idea alone isn't as appealing as one would think. I much prefer to be a pirate."

"She's a much better singer," Ragetti told him.

I blushed. "Thanks, but I really don't think so." I handed the guitar back to the crewmember I stole it from earlier and walked to my cabin. Jack followed closely behind.

"That song was about us wasn't it, love?" asked Jack as he leaned against the door frame.

I smiled halfheartedly as I unbraided my hair. "I honestly don't give you enough credit. _Da_… _quod carmen de nobis_."

"So you're leaving?" Jack wondered.

I sighed and picked up some clothes that were strewn about the floor, tossing them in the trunk at the foot of my bed. "Yes."

"Why?"

I shrugged, the earrings I wore jingling softly. "Because Elizabeth and Will have invited me to their wedding."

"Because you need to find him…"

"Him?"

"The man in your poem. The man with a gentle kiss and pure thoughts." He exhaled noisily. "I get it Luna."

"Obviously not. There is no way I'm the daughter of the moon."

He took my shoulders and maneuvered me so I was in front of the mirror. "Take a look, love. How are ye not the daughter of the moon? Your hair is the color of a moonless, starless night, save for the chunk the frames the left side of yer face, for which it is pure white as the color of a moonbeam. Your eyes are the color of the moon itself. And your name, the most obvious part about ye, _Luna_." He spun me around to face him. "Tell me how you're not the woman being spoken of in the poem. Please tell me, Luna."

"_Because I lied_!"

He took a step back, astonished that I yelled at him. "What?"

"There's no way to break the curse. It was just a stupid silly poem my mother told me to keep me from giving up."

"Luna, it can be done. Every curse has a way to break it."

"Not this one, Jack. _Numquam vere diligit me,_ ergo there's no way for me to break the curse." I shoved him out of my room then. "_Fiu de căţea_!" I curled up on my bed and cried myself to sleep.

"_Now, now, _copil. _Don't be so upset."_

_That voice. It was so familiar but I've never heard it before. I looked around me, there was nothing but black. The strange thing was I could still see my hand as I waved it in front of me. Suddenly, a flash of multicolored light blinded me and before me appeared an older version of….me?_

"_Wh-who are you?"_

"_Your great-great-grandmother, Sara." She smiled at me._

_I couldn't speak. Shock flowed throughout me._

"_It's okay, your mother acted the same way when I came to her." Her expression turned serious. "Listen to me, _fiică_. My time with you now is short. The rhyme is true, as Jack Sparrow has claimed it to be. Listen to him, Luna, he speaks from experience. The power that flows through our veins is strong. But it's strongest in you. Use it for good, and soon you will see that it will show you your path."_

"_But how? I'm no more magic than Miss Elizabeth!"_

_My grandmother shook her head, "No, _fiică, _your very powerful. A power almost matching Tia Dalma." Her image shimmered and she began to fade. "My time is nearly up. Hurry, go to your _dragoste adevarata_."_

"_But how will I know it's him?"_

"_You already know him." She was barely visible now._

"Bunică_! Don't go!" _

I sat up in my bed, sunlight pouring into my room. "There is so much I want to ask you!" I called out into the empty room.

"_All in due time, _fiica mea_," my _grandmother's voice called to me.

I sighed heavily and readied all my things before I set off for Tortuga, hopefully never to set foot on the _Black Pearl _ever again. Er, at least for a while.

* * *

**_A/n: I am most sorry for the shorness of this chapter. It doesn't seem terribly short, but in my mind as I went back and edited it, it was. Anyway, is everyone ready for the second installment of ITHOF? Surprisingly the looks like a real word. Anyway, school starts in about a week and a half, and shockingly I'm a little nervous._**

**_Anyways, if you haven't already, please check out my mythology story "The Goddess of Fate." It does pertain to this series, if only faintly, it's not important now and quite a spoiler for chapter 2._**

**_Romanian translations:_**

_Cu excepţia cazului în - Unless  
Da - yes  
__Fiu de căţea_ - son of a bitch  
Copil- child  
fiică - daughter  
Bunică - grandmother  
fiica mea - my daughter

**_Latin translations:_**

_quod carmen de nobis - that song was about us  
Numquam vere diligit me - You'll never truly be in love with me_

**_I'm not sure exactly how much Romanian/Latin Jack can understand. I figure he knows enough to get by if he were to ever find himself in Romania. I'm working on a flashback/ dream where Luna tries to teach him a little bit of both._**

**_Love you guys!  
Lyra Raine Sparrow_**

**_P.S. I need a few ideas for obstacles that could be found in a labyrinth. So if you could send a few my way, I'd be much appreciative. _**


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter two**_

The long winding way to Tia Dalma's place was quite comforting, as it's always been. Perhaps it was because Tia Dalma and I have always been on good terms. She's always been sort of like a sister to me. I spent a few months with her before I caught up with my father.

But now, twenty years later, I'm not looking for anyone in particular. Well, perhaps, my true love, but if what my _bunică_ says is true, then I've already found him and I just have to wait for him to come to me… Er rather, I have to wait for us to meet up.

It was dark out when I finally reached Tia's shack. I sat in my small boat and looked up to the flickering light emanating from it.

"Come in, my sister," Tia said from her door way, she ushered me up, "'tis somethin' I need to show you."

I hurried to her as she opened her home to me for the second time. It was crowded as always but it felt like home.

"Now, before I give what you want most, tell, girlie, why are ya here?"

I smiled at her. "I thought you always knew everything."

"I only know what other's don't mind sharing. But, sister, ye are confused, way beyond what you should." Tia took my hand and led me to a back room. She stopped at the door blocking my view. "Now, sister, what I am about to show you is very important that you keep a secret."

I frowned. "I'm here to escape my _destin_."

"Aye, de curse." She moved out of my way and beckoned my in the tiny room. On the bed lay on single man that I'd never thought I'd see again.

"_Tată_?" I murmured, "But how? Is he…alive?"

"Not yet, but give me a few months and he will." Strangely that did not weird me out as much as it sounded.

And that was that. Nothing of too much importance happened between then and now. I'd help her tend to my father and anyone else who came through her door. I told her of all my adventures that I've been on and yes, even some stories of my time as Miss Elizabeth's governess. She tried to get a reading on my destiny but it was never clear enough for her to see anything. Rather, she'd get brief glimpses but no more than can be captured in a painting.

"My great-great-grandmother came to me in a dream," I told her as she loomed over my father's body one day.

"Oh?"

"Yes, the one that was originally cursed. She came to me my last night on the Pearl." I stirred a bowl of herbs and liquid on my lap and looked to her.

"What did she say?" Tia wondered as she took the bowl from me and led me out to the main room.

I moved to her large yellow boa constrictor and petted it. "She told me not to give up on breaking the curse. And to listen to Jack Sparrow of all people. And that I have magic in me, almost as powerful as you."

Tia looked at me angrily. "Why 'aven't you told me this before, sister?"

"Because I didn't deem it necessary knowledge 'til now." I shrugged and placed a kiss on the snake's head. It was such a sweet little angel. "I mean I know I'm Romany, and gypsy blood flows through my veins, but me, magic? That's hardly believable. I mean yeah, I can heal a stab wound in a second, but my mother was a healer and she taught me simple things. I've seen her save people from _variolă_, and so many bad things."

"She is right on all accounts." Tia walked to me slowly and brushed my white hair behind my ears. "You are nearly as powerful as I already, and if we work on it…" She shook her head. "Tomorrow we shall start working on your magic."

And we did. And we have ever since then. Astral projection, levitation, precognition, and a few others are some of the things most gypsies can do that I can and have perfected them with Tia Dalma's help.

"Your magic is different dan mine, sister. You can wish for anyting and get dat wish," she whispered one day as I sat in the grassy field we came to. "You can control a person's will, as well as many other tings. But most of all, your singing… 'tis the same power as a siren's. For any man, woman, or child to hear your voice will be entranced by you and be under yer control completely. But only if ye 'ant dem to."

I looked up to her and she smiled to me. "I've come far, haven't I?"

She nodded and began to walk back to her shack. "Dat's all for today, sister. Come, supper is ready."

But now, I sat at her small table as she tried to read my destiny again, which by the way was getting clearer every day we spent together.

She looked at me, fear evident in her eyes. "You have no destiny, sister."

"What?" I questioned timidly.

"You are not part of a bigger picture, _you are the picture_."

I stared at her for a moment before it dawned on me. I control those around me. "What do you mean…?"

"Because of your powers, you control the destinies of those around you."

A strange feeling washed through me and I closed my eyes. For some reason it all made sense. Another quiver of power ran about me. I looked to Tia Dalma, my eyes wide open.

"My great-great-grandmother's name was _Sara_. As in Sati-Sara, _Parvati _; the Goddess of Fate!"

Tia smiled at my epiphany. "Aye, sister, and you are her. You are Sati-Sara."

"M-me? A goddess?"

* * *

**_A/n: so quite a boring chapter but it was needed. Well, not really but I thought it'd be an interesting twist almost. Please tell me what you think?_**

**_Translations:_**

_destin - destiny  
__Tată_ - daddy  
_variolă_ - smallpox

**_Haha... always forget this... Disclaimer: Pretty much nothing is mine, save for Luna. And her great-great-grandmother._**

**_Love you forever and always,  
Lyra Raine Sparrow_**


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter three**_

Me? A goddess? Impossible.

'You 'ave always 'ad a touch of destiny about tou, Luna,' Tia's voice says in my head yet again as one of Elizabeth's maids shove me into a corset.

As much as Elizabeth and I both argued, Governor Swann insisted that we wear them. I did manage to win him over with my magic but it turned out the dresses wouldn't fit without them.

The dress I was wearing was a pastel green color that complimented the creamy yellowish beige of Elizabeth's wedding gown.

Right as Elizabeth and I arrived at the ceremony it began to pour. Pitiable Elizabeth lost herself to tears as the guests began to leave for cover. I stayed out in the rain with the bride.

"Don't worry, Elizabeth," I murmured as I rubbed her back, "It rains on most wedding days."

Neither one of us spoke the true reason for her sobbing, which of course almost brought me to tears. Will had never arrived.

The sound of solders marching pulled our attention to Will as he was being brought in irons.

"Will!" Elizabeth said as she ran to him. "Why is this happening?"

"I don't know," he answered honestly. "You look beautiful."

The bride looked up from her ministrations with Will's coat and half smiled. "I think it's bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding."

"Make way! Let me through!" Governor Swann called out as he pushed through the crowd. "Stand your men down at once. Do you hear me?"

The man in the powdered wig that which the governor was addressing turned around and his second-in-charge took his coat. "Governor Weatherby Swann, it's been too long."

For some reason, other than the fact that he had Will arrested, this man sent chills down my spine.

"Cutler Beckett?"

My eyes widened at the name. He was the man who branded Jack. And the man who caused me to become captain of the _Gypsy Curse_, but at a great price.

"It's Lord now, actually."

The men blocking the governor's path raised their weapons and allowed him to step forward. "Lord or not, you have no reason and no authority to arrest this man."

"In fact, I do," Beckett said smugly. "Mr. Mercer?"

The man who stepped forward just oozed danger. He was the second in command, not the other guy. Mr. Mercer held out a leather case full of parchment.

"The warrant for the arrest of one William Turner," Beckett said as he took a paper and handed it to the governor.

He, in turn, looked at the paper, to the three of us, to Beckett, and finally back to the paper. "This warrant is for Elizabeth Swann."

"Oh, is it? That's annoying. My mistake. Arrest her." He looked back to the case and handed the governor another paper. "Here's one for a Luna Church. Arrest her as well."

My eyes squinted at the use of my married name my name.

"On what charges?" Elizabeth and I asked together as we were shackled.

"And.. ah ha! Here's the one for William Turner." Beckett hand that one off to Governor Swann as well. "And I have another one for a Mr. James Norrington." He stepped forward and waved the last warrant in the air. "Is he present?"

"What are the charges?" I asked again, more forcefully.

"Commodore Norrington resigned his commission some months ago," the governor answered.

Beckett glared at him. "I don't believe that was the answer to the question I asked."

"Lord Beckett. In the categories of questions not answered…" Will began.

"We are under the jurisdiction of the King's governor of Port Royal…" Elizabeth continued.

"And you will tell us what we are charged with!" I finished.

"The charge," the Governor started, "is 'conspiring to set free a man convicted of crimes against the Crown and Empire and condemned to death, for which the…" He drifted to silence as he read the last part.

"For which the punishment, regrettably, is also death," Beckett resumed. "Perhaps you remember a certain pirate named Jack Sparrow."

"Captain," the tree of us said together.

Beckett smiled.

"Captain Jack Sparrow," I told him.

"Captain Jack Sparrow," he repeated. "Yes, I thought you might."

* * *

_I stared out the window of my house on a hill. It over looked the mess that was Tortuga and out to sea. I looked out at the ships trying to spot my husband's._

_The moon was covered with dark storm clouds making it even harder to see. But I would know the _Curse_ anywhere. She sat just off shore. The tarred word blending in with the inky water. The red stained sails were just that. Rumor had it that they were stained with the blood of its victims, but it wasn't true. Dragon's Blood, perhaps but not human blood, well at least they haven't been since I joined the crew. The figurehead was the only thing of color. It was an ornate carving of me, if you looked close enough. Nathaniel had it replaced after we were married. It used to be just a random Roma woman._

_My child kicked and I placed my hand on my swollen belly. I smiled._

"_Don't worry little one, Daddy will be home soon."_

_There was an urgent sounding knock at the door. Figuring it was Nathaniel himself, I stood with a smile on my face and answered the door._

_It wasn't Nate, it was Eric, his quartermaster. He had a distressed look on his face and I knew at once something was wrong._

* * *

The next morning Will and I were forcibly dragged to the now office of Lord Cutler Beckett.

"Lord Beckett," one of the guards said as we passed through the door way, "the prisoners as ordered, sir."

Beckett looked from the man he was talking to and motioned to our shackled hands. "Those won't be necessary."

The man nodded and took out the key to unlock the handcuffs. Once the irons were removed Will and I were led to a small table where Beckett poured the two of us a glass of whisky.

"The East India Trading Company has need of your services." Beckett raised Will's glass to hand it to him.

Instead of taking it, Will simply stared at the man. I wish I could say the same. I am a pirate after all.

Beckett walked over the fireplace and drew a poker. "We wish for you to act as our agent in a business transaction with our mutual friend Captain Sparrow."

"More acquaintance than friend," Will responded. "How do you know him?"

I bit my lip. I did not want him to know my relationship to him. It's bad enough he knew my real last name.

"We've had dealings in the past." He held the poker up to reveal a white-hot P-shaped branding iron. "And we've each left our mark on the other."

"What _marcă_ did he leave on you, I wonder?" I sneered as I lifted my glass to my lips.

He didn't answer, only laid the branding iron back in the fire. "By your efforts, Jack Sparrow was set free. I would like you to go to him."

"You'll find that I took no part," I spoke up.

"And recover a certain property in his possession," Beckett continued as if I had never spoken.

"Recover," Will scoffs. "At the point of a sword?"

"Bargain," Beckett counters. He walked over to his desk and opened a small chest to retrieve a leather bound piece of parchment. "Letters of Marque. You, Mr. Turner, will offer what amounts to a full pardon. Jack will be free, a privateer in the employ of England."

"I don't know who you're kidding," I snap. "Jack would never consider employment the same as being free."

"Freedom," Beckett whispers as he returned the letters. He walked over to the window. "Jack Sparrow is a dying breed. The world is shrinking, the blank edges of the map filled in."

I shook my head as I joined him and Will. "No, there's just less in it."

"However you see it, Jack must find his place in the New World or perish. Not unlike you, Mr. Turner. You three face the hangman's noose."

"So you get both Jack and his compass?" I spoke.

"Bring back that compass, William, or there's no deal." With that we were dismissed.

"Oh, one more thing Ms. Church," Beckett called as I was ready to walk out the door.

"To insure Sparrow's safety, as well as your mother's and younger sister's…"

I turned back to him, and tried not to show my surprise. "I haven't a younger sister," I managed.

He waved his hand dismissively. "A matter to overcome in a moment. As for now, I have a proposal for you."

"And that would be?"

"Marry me and I'll see to it that none of your loved ones are harmed, including your stepfather."

I nearly choked on air. "Marry you? Are you mad? You branded my best friend, and you killed my husband! What makes you think that even drunk I would agree to that?!"

"You see, on a recent trip to London, I ran into a certain Roma caravan…"

"Lord Beckett," the man who escorted me and Will before, now escorted and older woman with dark graying hair.

"Thank you."

It only took me a second to recognize the blue eyes that stared at me in disbelief. "_Mami_?"

"Luna, _fiica_, it is me!" she called out to me, her Romanian accent as thick as ever.

I ran over to her and hugged the slightly shorter woman. I turned to glare at the man who dared hold my mother hostage. "Release her, she's done no wrong!"

"I've given you my offer. If you agree, I'd release your family fully pardoned of all wrong and ensure Jack Sparrow's safety from the hangman's noose."

"_Captain_," I sneered again.

"Luna," my mother cooed, "what's going on?"

I frowned at her. "Lord Beckett has asked for my hand in order for you to keep your freedom and Jack to keep his life."

"Who is this Jack Sparrow I keep hearing about?"

"Just a childhood friend, _mami."_

"Tsk, tsk. The clock's ticking." Lord Beckett held up a small gold diamond ring. "What's your answer?"

I sighed heavily as I held my hand out.

* * *

_**A/n: A totally stereotypical move for a not so stereotypical motive...**_

_**Translations:**_

_mami - mommy  
marcă - mark_

_**So I have some news of varying degrees. The *BEST* news is I'm updating today. The *GREAT* news is I figured out how the curse will be broken. The *GOOD* news is none of you will ever guess how it is. The *BAD* news is that I have to rewrite the entire third part just to make it work with my epiphany. And least but definitely not least, in fact probably the most important, I have to wait four more days to find out where Perry is!**_

_**Anywhom. Love ya guys, mean it!  
Lyra Raine Sparrow**_


	4. Chapter 4

"Here, now, you can't be here," the red coat claimed as the governor, Will, and I rushed down the stairs.

"I think you'll find they can," Governor Swann told him.

I watched as my mother was thrown in a cell with a woman Elizabeth's age and girl who looked to be only four.

"Release them," I called to the guard as I rushed to their cell. "I've agreed to Beckett's proposal, they're of no further value to him."

"Calm down, _fiica,_ it's to ensure that you return," my stepfather said from the cell over.

"Marko! _Domnul meu, ceea ce am facut_?" I hung my head as I began to cry.

"Do not cry, my child," Marko murmured as he ran his hand through my hair. "No harm will come of us."

I looked up right as my mother motioned to the two others in her cell. "Esmeralda, Saraphina. Come." The two came forward, a slightly sinister look on their faces. "This is Luna, my daughter. Your sister," she told Esmeralda.

"Any child of yours that gets us imprisoned is no sister of mine," Esmeralda sneered.

I smiled sadly. "I promise you, I will do everything in my power to free you. All of you."

"And what power is that?"

"Esmeralda," my mother warned.

"I am Sati-Sara," I say with as much conviction as I could muster.

"Sati-Sara?" my sister spat. "An old myth."

"If that's what you wish to believe." Frankly, I was on the same side as her.

"Luna!" Will called down to me.

I frowned. "I must go. Keep a weathered eye on the horizon. I will return."

I rushed away, pushing past everyone in my way until I arrived at the ship we were to set sail on.

* * *

"I am sorry Luna," Will said that night as we sailed towards Tortuga.

"For what exactly?" I ponder.

"For dragging you into this mess."

I shook my head. "Then you can forget it. Our paths would've crossed eventually, William Turner. Better sooner than later."

He nodded slightly as he went back to his original post.

* * *

I weaved through the thick woods that bordered the town of Tortuga, stumbling on a few roots that had grown up through the path. It's been a long time since I came up here to home I once shared with my late husband. I could never sell it; I had too many memories that echoed down the empty hall. But couldn't ever bring myself to visit. The door was a little stuck but I managed to open it.

I figured that it would be raided by pirates by now and be a huge mess inside. But shockingly, it remained untouched. Every little detail was as I remembered it. The large hutch full of the fine china that Nate and I had raided from a merchant ship sailing from London was innately perfect, albeit a bit dusty. My tea kettle still sat on the stove though the water had evaporated, which didn't shock me.

I moved from the kitchen and through the rest of the house. I paused briefly in the door to the nursery. It was only half complete, Nate was supposed to finish it when he returned from his last journey. I choked back a sob as I thought of the miscarriage.

With teary vision, I made my way to the bedroom. It was by far the least grand room in the house. Perhaps it had been raided?

I leaned in the door way and watched as a younger me twirled around in the room. I was so excited to find that Nate had gotten us a house. As much as I loved being at sea, when I found out about the baby I insisted it was raised properly. Er, at least as proper as one can be raised on the most infamous pirate port. It was the first time I truly believe that I had concurred the curse.

Of course, it prove that only a few months later I'd get hurt. Of course not on purpose.

My eyes danced from the large bed to the ajar closet door. With curiosity, crossed fingers and a ton of hope, I opened the door to be greeted by a few old dresses. I pushed the away to find an old ornate chest. I smiled and knelt down to pull it out of the closet.

I lifted the lid, thankfully it was unlocked, and sent cloud of dust in the air. The contents were mostly old letters addressed to me from when Nate was out at sea without me. A few were from when I was much younger and Jack had taken off to work for the EITC. I shuddered at the brief time I was without my only friend.

And then there was a bundle bound with twine that was written by me.

A jewelry box filled with – what else? – jewels from when I lived on the _Pearl._ There were a few trinkets that I claimed when we raided, a handful from my father, but most came from Jack, from occasions like my birthday to just because it looked pretty on me.

The 'just because' moments always tugged at my heart. Jack had always been really sweet to me, and most women actually. But it never bothered me. It was him. But there would be times when we were alone where he'd let his guard down and be the (not so) innocent boy I first met.

Smiling at the last time he was that boy, at least the last time I remembered, I shifted through the chest and found a stack of blank parchment, an old quill and a well of indigo ink. I stood and brought the items back to the kitchen where I began writing.

* * *

_I was running, just running. I knew I was running from something, something terrible and evil but what exactly I didn't know, nor did I want to stop and ask questions. I did know, however, that I was scared for my life. _

_The hard packed earth of the forest floor beneath my bare feet was interspersed with sticks and stones and broken glass. It all cut into my feet and a shadow of bloodied footprints trailed behind me on the shabby path. Branches reached out and pulled at me hair and clothes, slowing me down infinitely._

_Disembodied voices called my name and whispered intangible surreptitious phrases. I shivered as the ethereal expressions were joined by the faint, hauntingly-familiar, melodic sound of a jingling wind chime. The noise sent a frisson down my spine, which was worsened when I finally made out what the voices said, or rather sang:_

**_Run, run, run away;  
Buy yourself another day.  
A cold wind's whispering secrets in your ear  
so low only you can hear._**

_A frigid wind blew and thunder crackled ahead, making my jumpy. The thin fabric of my clothes proving to be no savior from the wind. My head scarf snagged on an outreaching branch and was pulled off, allowing my dark tresses to flutter in front of my face. Part of me wanted to stop and grab the scarf, the blue piece of silk being one of my favorites, but the overwhelming feeling of imminent danger won out and I continued to sprint. Rain whipped at my face, peppering it with little cuts as if it was raining tiny shards of glass._

**_Run, run, run and hide  
somewhere no one else can find.  
Tall trees bend their leaves pointing where to go  
where you will still be all alone._**

_With the dusk upon me, the small footpath and surrounding trees seemed to converge into a never ending tunnel, leading me deeper into the misty forest. The footfalls echoing around me caused me to exert myself further. The footsteps I heard could just be mine echoing in the near quiet forest, but I wasn't stop to find out._

**_Don't you fret, my dear.  
It'll all be over soon.  
I'll be waiting here for you._**

_The final rays of the sunset disappeared behind the horizon that was just visible through the thick forest. Thunder grumbles again causing me to stumble and scrape up my palms, knees and the tops of my feet on the glassy ground and my skirt is torn, another one of my favorites. Something behind me causes me to jump back up and continue running as swift as possible. My lungs are nothing but a burning ache in my chest. The heart shaped scar on my stomach stung._

**_Run fast as you can.  
No one has to understand.  
Fly high across the sky from here to kingdom come.  
Fall back down to where you're from._**

_My skirt caught on a low bush as I tripped over a fallen tree and tumbled over a cliff into dark, murky water below. I landed in the water on my back which knocked the wind out of me. Before I had a chance to catch my breath a wave crashed over me knocking the remaining breath from my lungs. my entire body feels as if it's on fire, each little cut a flame of its own, itching and irritating._

**_Don't you fret, my dear.  
It'll all be over soon.  
I'll be waiting here for you  
For you, for you_**

_I struggle to keep my head above water but the rough, angry sea overpowers me easily. I'm stubborn though and manage to keep my head above for just long enough to catch my breath and watch as snow begins to fall. Each little flake has a dance of its own. They flitter down without a care in the world, covering the world in a white fluffy blanket. Something wraps around my arms and legs and pulls me under the water._

**_Don't you fret, my dear  
(Don't you fret, my dear)  
It'll all be over soon  
(It'll all be over soon)  
I'll be waiting here_**

_Whatever has a hold of me is slimey and burns my skin where it touches. It wraps around my stomach and neck and yanks me down deeper. The saltwater burns my eyes and throat as I tried to breathe in. The restricting binds tighten, cutting deep gashes in my near flawless olive skin. As the water is tinged red, the edges of my vision blur and darken till there's nothing but black._

**_Don't you fret, my dear  
It'll be over soon  
I'll be waiting here for you_**

_The sounds of the ocean fade into nothingness. Tiny silver lights appear as the binds release me. As soon as I'm liberated, I struggle to stand up. I glances around to figure out where I am. But the view is the same in all directions. It's as if I'm floating in the night sky, cut off from the world. Never before have I seen something so beautiful and threatening at the same time and I had an sense of familiarity, as if i had been here before._

**_For you, For you  
Run, run, run away_**

_The whisper comes from behind me and with a brief glance, I see a cloaked figure as dark as the air around him. For a millisecond, I'm frozen. The figure moves to grab me and I take off._

**_Run, run, run away_**

_This time the voice is no longer hollow, and ghostly. No, it was real and right in front of me. I want to scream out for help but my voice is lost. The wind chimes ring as the figure reveals a silver dagger and jumps on Me._

_"NOOO!"_

* * *

"Captain Jack Sparrow?" a man repeated after Will had asked him Jack's whereabouts. "Owes me four doubloons. Heard he was dead."

We'd been in Tortuga for a week and had less than what we started with. It was starting to irk me and my midnight trips to my old home were staring to take an emotional toll.

"Well, that was… helpful," I say as we walk away.

Will rushes to the shallows to ask a seemingly random fisherman.

"Singapore," was his answer. "That's what I heard. Drunk, with a smile on his face. Sure as the tide, Jack Sparrow turn up in Singapore."

"Thank you for your help," I say as I drag Will away from the man and over to the Faithful Bride. "Jack has his own room here. 'Sparrow's Nest' it was deemed. Even had a plaque to state it as so. 'Till Jack stole it, of course, so as I wouldn't see it. Not like I hadn't already known. People gossip a lot on this island."

After a bit of searching I found who I was looking for. "Scarlett, Giselle! We're looking for Jack. Might you've seen him?"

"Jack Sparrow?" Giselle asked. She exchanged a glance with her companion.

"I haven't seen him in a month," answered Scarlett.

Giselle stepped forward and smiled at Will. "When you find him, will you give him a message?" She slapped him then.

"Of course I will," I told them. I pulled Will into the tavern and straight to the barmaid. "Angelique!"

"He ain't here, hunie," she called to him. "Not since you left him. Again."

I smiled and shook my head. She always knew what I was up to. "It wasn't like that this time. I had a previous affair to attend."

"That's what you always say." She slid a tankard of rum down our way. "That dress suits you nicely. Finally decided to join the ladies of the night?"

"Not if it means having Giselle and Scarlett on my bad side," I replied. I picked the rum up and brought it to my lips just as an arm was thrown over my shoulders.

"Aw. Lulu, am I really that bad?"

The voice brought a huge smile to my face. "Scarlett not Scarletta, Scar." I turned and looked up at the owner of the arm. Scarletta von Vanity, my first mate. She looked the same as always. Except for the tattoo that now graced her neck. It was an upside-down cross with the words "Believe in yourself" written beneath it.

"So who's the hottie ye've made company with?" she wondered as she glanced to Will.

"Will Turner," I answered, "And he's betrothed."

"To ye, I see," she guestured to my engagement ring. "Don't much matter he's not me type. Too… male."

I chuckled. "We're not together. You know my only love is the sea."

Scarletta chuckled deeply. "That an' Jack Sparra'. Speakin' of. Hear tell says ye've been looking for 'im."

"Aye. Have ya seen him?"

"Can't say 'bout Jack, but there's an island just south of the straits where I…. trade spice for delicious… long pork."

I shook my head. "Trade as in steal?"

"There is a ship there," she continued ignoring my question. "A ship with black sails."

"The _Pearl_?" Will asked.

"Aye. At dawn we set sail. If yer onboard I'll take ya to it."

I glared and stuck my finger in her face. "My ship better  
not leave this rock without me on it."

"Yada yada. All you ever do is talk, Lune."

"Thanks for the rum, Angelique," I said as I placed a few coins on the bar. "Come Will, I believe it's time for you to meet my crew. Oh, and the first thing I do once I return to my ship for good is kick you off. There shall be no cannibals living on my ship. I shan't have it."

* * *

_**A/n: I think this is the longest chapter yet.**_

___Domnul meu, ceea ce am facut?_ - My lord, what have I done?

**_I have an edited version of The Civil Wars' Kingdom Come. It helped me invision the nightmare alot easier and also helped me actually have a similar nightmare myself. I'll put it up on YouTube if you guys want to check it out, I'll put a link on my profile._**

**_Anyway... Love you!  
Lyra Raine Sparrow_**


	5. Chapter 5

"On deck you scabrous dogs!" I yelled as Scarletta and I left the captain's cabin of the _Gypsy Curse_ the next morning after planning our course. The crew, most of which I recognized, all grouped on deck moments later. "Listen up! We've a pressing need to return to the island what houses the Pelegostos. I want to be there within the morn."

The crew simply stared at me, some in awe, some in anger.

"Aye, ye heard the captain," Scarletta called out, falling into the part of first mate quiet easily. "Snap to, or it'll be ye what is fed to the Pelegostos!"

They scattered like roaches with a flame held to them. Scarletta went up to the helm where a beautiful blonde woman stood. She was wearing a heavy violet dress and a braided wreath of flowers on her head. A total contradiction to the ship.

"Oi!" I called up to them. "What be her doing on my ship?"

"Oh, calm yourself, Lulu. Juliette is Scarletta's girl." I smiled at the man that stood beside me.

"Kyle Church. I haven't seen you since…" I stopped when I realized where I was. No one, other than Kyle of course on account of Ky being Nate's brother, knew I was ever married.

Kyle nodded. "I know, it still gets me from time to time as well."

"I'm a pirate, _dragoste_. I shouldn't be so _afectiv."_

Kyle rolled his eyes and walked away. I turned to Will who had found his place beside me. "My first mate has turned my _Curse_ into a damn queer ship."

* * *

"Captain," Juliette said as she pointed to the island.

I drew my spyglass and looked. The _Pearl _was beached. "Found ya, _dragoste_."

Will and I boarded a longboat and rowed to shore.

"Jack!" I called. "Jack Sparrow!"

"Marty! Cotton!" Will exclaimed. "Anybody?"

We wandered into the jungle, keeping our eyes open for any sign of anyone really. It wasn't long before Cotton parrot landed in front of us.

"Ah. A familiar face," I sighed.

"_Squawk_! Don't eat me."

"We're not going to eat you," Will said.

"Don't eat me. No. Don't eat me."

"Will," I whispered. "Parrots repeat what they hear."

He drew his sword and started to hack his way through the jungle. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted Gibbs' flask dangling from a string. I tapped Will's shoulder and pointed.

"Gibbs," he whispered as he picked it up.

We followed the string for a little ways until it stopped near a large tree.

"Ragh!" the tree screamed.

I screamed and placed a hand over my heart as Will was dragged up and hung by his ankle. The natives came out of hiding wielding spears.

Will unsheathed his cutlass and waved it around until a young boy shot a dart into his neck. He fainted within seconds.

"Parley?" I murmured, raising my hands.

They cut my companion down and tied him to a bamboo pole, while they simply tied my hands together. The fleeting joy of being a woman.

They led me over various bridges and through a small village until they stopped at small gathering spot.

One of my captors spoke in his language to a man sitting on a throne. It only took me a second to recognize Jack.

Jack looked down to Will, who finally came to then.

"Jack? Jack Sparrow!" Will exclaimed. "I can honestly say I'm glad to see you."

Jack face showed no emotion as he stood and poked Will's shoulder. His eye's seemed to smile as he looked to me. He turned to the natives and said something to them. They responded and before Jack could reply, Will called out to let him down.

Jack spoke again and placed his head dangerously close to Will ass. I bit my lip as I knew what was coming next.

"Lom say say eunuchy. Snip, snip."

Jack straighten and walked back to his throne as the native murmured.

"Jack, the compass. That's all I need," Will called out. "Elizabeth is in danger. We were arrested for helping you. She faces the gallows."

Jack stopped but didn't turn around.

"Jack, they have my family. My little sister and my four-year-old niece, whom I've only met fleetingly are facing death unless we return with that compass."

Jack quickly walked back and hurriedly spoke to the Natives, who exclaimed the last thing Jack said.

"Save me," Jack whispered as we were hauled away.

* * *

"Why would he do this to us?" Will wondered. He and I had been placed into cages dangling over a chasm with the rest of the crew of the _Pearl_. "If Jack is the chief…"

"Aye," Gibbs answered, "the Pelegostos made Jack their chief, but he only remains chief as long as he acts like a chief."

"So he had no choice," I explain. "He's a captive as much as the rest of us."

"Worse, as it turns out," Gibbs contradicted. "See, the Pelegostos believe that Jack is a god in human form, and they intend to do him the honor of releasing him from his fleshy prison."

"They're going to eat him," I say, my voice level. "Where's the rest of the crew?"

"These cages we're in weren't built till after we got here."

I remove my hand from the cage and wiped it on my breeches.

"The feast is about to begin. Jack's life will end when the drums stop."

"Well, we can't just sit here and wait, then, can we?" I asked. I pointed to the cliffs. "If we can get enough momentum going and can find footholds over there we can climb up, cut the rope and find a way to break the cage."

"Good thinking, Miss Luna," Gibbs tells me.

It was mainly just a lot of shifting our weight back and forth until we latched on to the roots, vines and grass protruding from the rocks.

"Put your legs through and start to climb!" Gibbs ordered.

"Come on men! It take all of us to crew the _Black Pearl_!"Will yelled.

"Actually," I corrected. "You wouldn't need every one. 'Bout six will do."

The cages stop as the occupants of both look to each other.

Damn, me and my big mouth….

* * *

**_A/N: First things first; the word_**_ afe__ctiv_**_ means_**_ emotio__nal._**_ Secondly school has started and my computer totally screwed up. Tried fixing it with the Geek Squad recovery disks, turns out they're missing a file. Currently I'm using my mom's laptop and she really doesn't like me getting on fanfiction, because of the whole spam issue before. Hopefully, my dad can get my laptop fixed tomorrow and I'll have it before I leave for PA Wednesday._**

**_Which leads me to my next thing. I am going on vacay (again) this time to Pennsylvania. Close to Lancaster if any of yous were wondering, but we are going to Philly for some sight seeing. Anyway, unfortunately I will not be getting on the internet much if any at all. So I will not update Saturday. I doubt I'll be able to update Wednesday either soooo... I'm going to post A LOT tonight before I go hop in bed._**

**_I really want to thank all of my reviewers and favoriters and followers to both me and this story. I really do love you guys._**

**_Disclaimer: Of course, as much as I hate this fact, I do not (repeat; DO NOT) own POTC or any of the characters or plot associated with it. However, I do own Luna, her family, Scar, Ky, and the rest of the _Curse's crew. **

**Peace. Love. Unity. Respect.  
L.R.S.**


	6. Chapter 6

_**Chapter six**_

In the end, our cage of misfits won the race. The other cage losing in the very beginning on account of one of them grabbing a snake and scaring the rest into dropping their handholds. The vine that held them over the chasm snapped like the silk of a spider web.

We cut loose our cage and took off, someone had spotted us and soon the whole tribe was after us. We stumbled and ended up rolling down hill stopping when we ran into a tree. Gibbs had an uncanny comment about lifting a lady's skirt which earned a hearty glare from me and we were off again. That is until we fell into a trench and into the river. The cage broke in half and we pushed it over us. The cannibals shot at us from above as we swam for safety.

"Haul loose the mooring line!" Pintel's yells reached us as we trudged through the jungle and back to the _Pearl. _ "The mooring line!"

Will, Gibbs, Marty and I all seemed to make it to the ship at the same time.

"Haul loose the mooring line!" Pintel repeated.

Ragetti appeared at the railing. "He's got me eye. He won't give it back."

"How'd you get it back last time?"

"Excellent!" Gibbs crooned. "Our work's half done."

"We'd done it for you knowing you'd be coming back," Pintel told him.

"Make ready to sail, boys! And er… girl."

I shook my head in dismay. "What of Jack? I won't leave without him!"

"Oi!" called Jack's voice in the distance.

I looked around until I spotted his ant sized figure racing towards us being chased by the cannibals.

"Time to go!" I claimed.

"Cast off those lines!" Gibbs whined, his voice unusually high. I jumped onto the rope net and began climbing. "Make ready to cast off!"

"Oi!" Jack called again.

Right after we let go the sails, I leaned over the rail to watch as Jack grabbed onto the netting.

"Alas, my children, this is the day you shall always remember as the day you almost…" A large wave washed over him, cutting him off, "Captain Jack Sparrow."

"Let's put some distance between us and this island and head out to open sea," I offer as I help him aboard.

"Yes to the first. And yes to the second," He replies as his coat is draped over his shoulders, "but only insofar as we keep to the shallows as much as possible."

"That seems to be a large contradictory, Jack."

"I have every faith in Master Gibbs' reconciliatory navigational skills, Luna, love. Now where is that monkey of yours? I want to shoot something."

My monkey screeched from above us and dropped Ragetti's eye, whom bent down to pick it up. His counterpart handed Jack his pistol.

"Jack. Elizabeth is in danger," Will growled as he stood before us.

"Have you considered keeping a more watchful eye on her?" Jack wondered as he walked to the helm, us at his heels. "Maybe just locking her up somewhere?"

I rolled my eyes, Jack would be one to suggest that.

"She is locked up in a prison, bound to hang for helping you."

"There comes a time when one must take responsibility for one's mistakes." He turned and glared at me. As if the phrase were meant for me.

Will stole a nearby crewman's sword and held it to Jack's neck. "I need that compass of yours. I must trade it for her freedom."

Jack removed the sword from his person and addressed his first mate.

"Cap'n."

"We have a need to travel up river."

"By need," I started to ask, "do you mean a trifling need?"

"Fleeting?" Gibbs begged. "As in, say, a passing fancy?"

"My affair with Giselle was a passing fancy. More like… Luna. A resolute and unyielding need."

"Butter me up all you want, Jack," I call to him as he walked away. "What we need to do is make sail for Port Royal with all haste!"

"William, I shall trade you the compass if you shall help me find this." Jack took a folded up cloth out of his jacket pocket and spread it flat.

"You want me to find this?"

Jack glanced at Will. "No. You want you to find this, because the finding of this finds you incapacitorially finding and/or locating in your discovering a way to save your dolly belle, ol' what's-her-face. Savvy?"

Wow, I followed that one.

Disgusted, Will grabbed the cloth. "This is going to save Elizabeth?"

"How much do you know about Davy Jones?" Jack pondered.

"Not much."

"Yeah, it's going to save Elizabeth."

Will walked away but I remained. I wasn't sure what to do.

"You've only ever worn one piece of jewelry when in that particular outfit."

I looked down. It was my captain outfit that I had left on the _Curse_. It was a long-sleeved deep green ruffled top, a black leather corset, a black skirt, old worn feminine black knee-high riding boots and once upon a time a hat similar to Jack's, though it was lacy and made from crushed black velvet.

"Oh? Is that so? I've never noticed," I lied.

"Aye. The ring I gave you when you were fifteen. So, do pray tell dearie, what is that infernal diamond doing resting on your left hand?"

"Jack, you have to understand! I had no other choice! He has my family!" I grabbed on to his arm and looked pleadingly up at him.

"Who?" he growled.

I frowned and looked away. My voice was barely able to be heard when I spoke lengths later. "Lord Cutler Beckett."

It was a moment before he reacted. "You were the one thing, Luna. The one thing he couldn't touch."He shook his head and walked away.

"Jack, please!"

"No, Luna! You please! How could you betray me like that?"

"I had no other choice," I mumble, "He has my family."

He shook his head and went and hid in his cabin.

* * *

_Young Elizabeth handed me a book. "Can you read it to me please?"_

_I opened up the cover. "_Pirates of the Caribbean_?" I asked._

_She nodded exuberantly, her blonde hair falling from it's bun. "Yes, I'm quite fascinated by them."_

_I smiled. That was me. "Who would you like to read about first?" I pondered flipping through._

_"Vahduva neygrah," she says. I smirk._

_"Vădoo-va ney-ah-gră," I correct. "I means Black Widow."_

_"Văduva neagră?" she tests. I smile and flatten her hair._

_"Very good." I skim through until I find the chapter on the infamous female pirate. "No one has ever be feared quite as much as Văduva neagră, the Black Widow. __Her given name is unknown at this point.__ There isn't a man who doesn't shiver when they hear her name. It's said that she's feared by Davy Jones himself. She's said to be and exotic beauty with dark hair and pale eyes. No one knows where she came from or how she came to be captain of the _Gypsy Curse_. Some say she forced the captain to marry her only to have him killed some time later. Other accounts say she killed him herself after he promised her the ship after his death, much like a black widow, her namesake._

_"According to some, a black widow appears right before her ship is spotted on the horizon and bites the captain. One thing is for sure though, she's merciless and drains the blood of her victims using it to stain the sails crimson. Rumor has it that she controls the entire crew forcing them to give over everything of value before burning the ship down, the crew with it. She grants clemancy to one man from each attack, claiming him as her lover, until he's marooned on an isle and left for dead. She trolled the seas for three years and there's no telling where's she to strike next."_

_I grimmaced as I finished reading the short passage. Was I really that violent?_


	7. Chapter 7

_**Chapter seven**_

The filtered sunlight and slight fog made the river ride to Tia Dalma's both beautiful and threatening.

"Why is Jack afraid of the open ocean?" Will asked Gibbs.

"Well, if you believe in such things," Gibbs began, setting up for yet another story, "there's a beast does the bidding of Davy Jones- a fearsome creature with giant tentacles that'll suction your face clean off and drag an entire ship down to the crushing darkness." Gibbs shot us a meaningful glare, what it meant I don't know, but meaningful all the same. "The kraken. They say the stench of his breath is like…" He shuddered. "Imagine, the last think you know on God's green earth is the roar of the kraken and the reeking odor of a thousand rotting corpses. If you believe such things."

"And the key will spare him that?" Will ponders unfazed.

Gibbs shrugged. "Well, that's the very question Jack wants answered. Bad enough even to go visit…her."

"Her?"

"Aye, her."

"Tia's not that bad. You just have to ignore the voodoo and she's a very nice lady."

"No worries, mates," Jack states as we arrived at Tia's place an hour later. "Tia Dalma and I go way back. Thick as thieves. Nigh inseparable, we are. Were. Have been. Before."

I patted his shoulder as I bounced to her door. "Not so tough now, are ya Jackie?"

"My sister!" Tia called as I opened her door. "You've returned so soon?"

"Tia, I've only been gone for a little over three weeks," I reply as I pull her into a hug.

Tia nodded and looked over my shoulder. "Jack Sparrow."

I turned to look at the aforementioned man as he swaggered his way towards us, narrowly dodging a jar of pickled chicken hearts.

"Tia Dalma." He shot a fleeting look at me but kept his attention to her.

She stood and walked over to him. "I always knowed the wind was goina blow you back to me one day. To your room, sister," Tia ordered, "an' tend to our previous guest."

Out of respect and nothing more, I retreated to the room I once shared with my father. I could still hear everything.

"You…" she took a few dragging steps to the door. "You have a touch of… destiny about you, William Turner."

"You know me?" Will wondered.

"You want to know me," Tia told him. I had to hold back a snort. Tia was not Will's type, Jack's maybe but not Will's.

Shuffling sounded before Jack spoke up. "There'll be no knowing here. We've come for help and we're not leaving without it. I thought I knew you."

"Not as well as I had hoped."

And I thought I knew everyone. Apparently not.

"Come," Tia called as they began to move.

"Come," Jack repeated, probably to Will. A chair moved and someone sat down.

"What service may I do you?" Tia asked in a sultry voice. Then in a more commanding voice she said; "You know I demand payment."

_But not from me_, I teased in my head.

"Watch your thoughts, girlie," Tia called.

"_Scuze_!" I bellowed back.

"I brought payment," Jack told her. He whistled and a memorable monkey's chattering reached my ears. "Look," gunfire shot, "an undead monkey. Top that"

"Don't!" Gibbs mumbled. "You've no idea how long it took us to catch that."

The monkey bounded to my father's feet and frowned.

"I know Jack," I say as I pet him, "But Tia Dalma is doing the best she can. He'll wake soon."

"The compass you bartered from me, it cannot lead you to this?" Tia wondered.

Oh, that's right; Jack did get his treasured compass from her. I forgot about that. I snorted. _Bartered_? Hmm, yeah sure, that's how he got it…

"Maybe… Why?"

"I here you. Jack Sparrow does not know what he wants." I chose this time to rejoin the group. "Or do you know," Tia continued with a fleeting glance at me, "but are loath to claim it as your own?"

She stared at Jack in the creepy, smiley way she does as he blew something out of his face.

"Your key go to a chest." She resituated herself in her chair. "And it is what lay inside the chest you seek, don't it?"

"What is inside?" Gibbs wondered.

"Gold?" Pintel asked. "Jewels? Unclaimed properties of a valuable nature?"

"Nothing bad, I hope?" Ragetti inputted.

I looked to the drawing of a key and immediately recognized it from one of Tia Dalma's many stories. "You know of Davy Jones," I say leaning on the door frame, "_da_?"

The threesome nodded.

"A man of the sea. A great sailor, until he run afoul of that which vex all men."

"What vexes all men?" Will asked.

Tia gingerly touched his hand. "What indeed?"

"The sea," Gibbs stated.

"Sums." This was Pintel. How original.

Ragetti was next. "The dichotomy of good and evil." Now that was original.

"A woman," Jack uttered a bit fed up.

"A woman," I agreed, risking a glance at Tia before retuning my gaze to Jack. "He fell in love."

"No, no, no, no," Gibbs interrupted, "I heard it was the sea he fell in love with."

"Same story, different versions, and all are true," Tia snapped. "See, it was a woman, as changing… and harsh… and untamable as the sea… Him never stopped loving her. But the pain it caused him was too much to live with but not enough to cause him to die."

Will, annoyed slightly by the story, spoke up. "What exactly did he put into the chest?"

"His heart," I told.

"Literally or figuratively?" Ragetti pondered.

Pintel and Gibbs looked at him like he was the stupidest person on the planet. "He couldn't literally put his heart in a chest." Pintel looked to Tia. "Could he?"

She had a small smile on her face. "It was not worth feeling what small, fleeting joy life brings. And so… him carve out him heart, lock it away in a chest and hid the chest from the worl'. The key he keep with him at all times."

Will stood from his chair and turned to Jack. "You knew this."

"I did not," the captain countered. "I didn't know where the key was. But know we do. All that's left is to climb aboard the _Flying Dutchman_, grab the key, you go back to Port Royal and save your bonnie lass, eh?" Jack snapped and turned to leave.

A cloth wrapped around Jack's hand caught both of my and Tia Dalma's attention. "Jack, let me see your hand," I ordered

He held out the un-bandaged one. I stared at him until he rolled his eyes and handed me the other. I unwrapped it slowly, fearing what I already figured.

Gibbs gasped. "The black spot!" He did some weird superstition thing before Pintel and Ragetti followed.

"My eyesight's as good as ever, just so you know," Jack announced. I handed Jack's hand to Tia.

"Sister, go. In the kitchen, a gift for Jack. Go now!" Tia ordered.

"But what?"

"You'll know, Sati-Sara."

I nodded and stumbled around in the room until I spotted exactly what Jack needed.

"Davy Jones cannot make port," Tia explained as I returned. "Cannot step on land but once every ten years."

I handed the jar to Tia who in turn handed it to Jack, who hesitantly took it.

"Land is where you are safe, Jack Sparrow, so you will carry land with you."

Jack looked over the jar hesitantly. "Dirt. This is a jar of dirt."

"Yes," Tia led on.

"Is the jar of dirt going to help?"

"If you don't want it, give it back."

"No." He hugged the dirt closer.

"Then it helps."

Will stepped forward. "It seems we have a need to find the _Flying Dutchman._"

Tia sat back down and picked up her shells and shook them in her hands. "A touch of destiny." The shells fell into a very arranged-looking array.

Jack took a look at them and turned to leave, his crew following.

"Jack," Tia called after him. "Take de child wit you. She'll be of need."

Jack glanced at me for the first time since I rejoined the room. "Luna and I don't get along."

"You will take her." She smiled at me. "Go, Sati-Sara, and remember what we spoke of."

"Yes, ma'am."

* * *

_**Translations:**_

_Scuze - Excuse me.  
Da - yes_


	8. Chapter 8

_**Chapter eight**_

"So that's the _Flying Dutchman?_" Will asked as we gazed out over to the shipwreck. "She doesn't look like much."

"Neither do you," came Jack's snide remark. "Do not underestimate her."

He elbowed Gibbs in the stomach.

"Must have run afoul of the reef."

I snorted. Yeah, that's what happened. Just like that puny little ship over there is the _Dutchman_.

"So, what's your plan, then?" I asked playing along. As soon as Will was out of range, I was going to lay one on Jack.

"I row over, search the ship until I find Jack's bloody key," answered Will.

"And if there are crewmen?" I wondered.

"I cut down anyone in my path." He walked away with Gibbs.

"I like it," Jack tells me. "Simple, easy to remember."

"Your chariot awaits, sire!" Ragetti called.

"Oi!" Jack called as Will climbed down to the row boat. "If you happen to get captured, just say Jack Sparrow sent you to settle his debt. It might save your life."

"Yeah," I mumble, "or get him killed."

"Douse the lamps," Jack ordered of Gibbs. The crew willingly obliged. "What was that, sweetheart?"

"You sent him to his death, you know that right?"

"He went willingly, as I recall."

I glared at him and grabbed his wrist as he walked away. "Under false pretenses. You haven't changed a bit have you Jack?"

"Not in the last four months, no."

"I want to say I can't believe this, but for some reason I can."

"Good." He pulled his wrist out of my grasp and stalked off.

"Jack Sparrow, you are a rotten man!" I called to him. I looked to the shipwreck just as the true _Dutchman _reached the surface.

Now all I could do was watch as fate had her hand.

_Sati-Sara…. _My grandmother's voice beckoned.

That's right, I'm fate… er, at least, Tia Dalma said I was.

I spun the two rings on my fingers. The one, the oldest, a silver ring featuring a pale blue gem and six white pearls, I received from Jack the eve of my fifteenth birthday.

The other, the newest, the engagement ring I received from Beckett, was the heaviest. It was by too splendid to rest upon my decidedly dirtied, suntanned hand. The thin gold band held a comically large diamond, both stuck out horribly.

Two very different futures represented by two very different rings.

On one hand, quite literally, was a life with the family that I'd never known, a marriage to a wealthy and powerful man, and a safe haven from the curse. But if I chose this I would lose my best friend. Never again would he trust me. Never again would I have what we had now. Or, rather, what we had before. I'd be stuck in some pompous house with nothing to do but sit around eating crumpets and drinking tea while listening to some pompous woman's story. I would never be allowed to sail again.

And on the other, was a more adventurous, more likable future. Here was a chance to have my best friend back, and if I played my cards right, a marriage. A chance to break the curse. Here I could sail the world free forever. Life would soon return to what it once was. But then my family would be hung, even four-year-old Saraphina. It wouldn't be the same; I wouldn't be the same, knowing that I was the reason for that little girl's death.

While they both in their own way sounded good, and both sounded terrible, I could only choose one. And while I'd much rather have things return to normal, only one of the futures allowed everyone to remain unscathed, bruised and brokenhearted, but unscathed.

The crew gasped suddenly and I glanced at them, my vision continuing until I laid eyes on Davy Jones.

Goddess incarnate or not, I was scared to death.

One of his disgusting crewmen grabbed me and dragged me over.

"Oh," was all Jack said.

Jones glared at him, his icy blues eyes piercing. "You have a debt to pay. You've been captain of the _Black Pearl_ for thirteen years. That was our agreement."

I remember him making that deal, too. I was there, just as I'm here now.

"Technically I was only captain for two years," Jack answered, "then I was viciously mutinied upon."

Jones advanced on him. "Then you were a poor captain, but a captain nonetheless." He switched up his path and walked in front of the crews. "Have you not introduced yourself all these years as Captain Jack Sparrow?"

Oooh, he's got him there.

Jack turned and swaggered toward him. "You have my payment," he jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "One soul to serve on your ship. He's already over there."

"One soul is not equal to another."

He was right. Not ever soul is the same.

"Aha! So, we've established my proposal is sound in principle. Now we're haggling over a price."

_Don't do this Jack, he won't hesitate to kill you. Even if I am who everyone claims I am, I can only control so much. Davy Jones is one thing I can't. He's Calypso's to mess with. Sister or not, I really don't want to deal with her anymore than I have to_, I rambled. Wow, I really need sleep.

"Price?" Davy asked. He made a popping sound with his lip.

"Just how many souls do you think my soul is worth?"

Jones looked over to me. Something about me surprised him and his eyes popped. Turning back to Jack he said; "One hundred souls. Three days."

"You're a diamond, mate." Jack left his spot and moved to the bow of the ship. "Send me back the boy. I'll get started right off."

One crewmember with a head of a hammerhead shark hissed at Jack.

"I keep the boy. A good-faith payment."

Jack turned back.

"That leaves you only ninety-nine more to go."

"Have you not met Will Turner?"

"Obviously he has, otherwise he wouldn't be on this ship now would he?" Everyone turned to look at me. "Oops?" Didn't realize I said that aloud.

Davy turned back to Jack.

"He's noble, heroic, a terrific soprano." Never occurred to me Will sang. "Worth at least four," Jack continued, "Maybe three and a half. And did I happen to mention…"

"He's in love," I stated. Maybe I could control a little of the whelps fate.

Jack nodded. "With a girl. Due to be married. Betrothed. Dividing him from her and her from him would only be half a cruel as actually allowing them to be joined in holy matrimony."

Davy's face was full of sorrow. And for the first time he actually seemed human, not a monster.

"I think he gets it, Jack," I call out. It was then that I realized what he had said. "Oi! Marriage isn't all that bad!"

"I keep the boy," Jones says, his demeanor changing suddenly. "Ninety-nine souls. But I wonder, Sparrow, can you live with this?"

"No," I whisper. Er, at least I can't.

"Can you condemn an innocent man, a friend, to a lifetime of servitude in your name while you roam free?" Davy persisted.

"Yep. I'm good with it." He said it with a smile on his face, but the feelings radiating off of him were conflicted. He really wasn't. "Shall we seal it in blood? I mean…" he looked down to Davy's hands, er, tentacle and claw. "Ink?"

Davy Jones grabbed his hand with the tentacle and growled, "Three days."

The crew slinked off of the ship and everyone gathered close to Jack.

"Er, ?" Jack asked as he stared at his hand. "I feel sullied and unusual."

"And right you should. That should be you on that ship not Will! How do you intend to harvest theses ninety-nine souls in three days?"

"Fortunately, he was mum as to the condition in which these souls need be."

"Ah… Tortuga."

Jack wiped his slime covered hand on my fairly clean, but certainly slime-less top. "Tortuga."

"Thanks Jack. Now go get me a new shirt."

"My pleasure," he responded, leaving me for his cabin, "but you shall not be getting a new top from me."

I huffed and went in search of my cabin, only to remember as I walked in the obviously occupied room that Gibbs probably claimed it.

Great, just great. Now, where the hell am I supposed to sleep. As much as I liked the crew, there is no way I am sleeping with them.

* * *

**_A/n: you can find a link for the ring on my profile. 3_**


	9. Chapter 9

_**Chapter nine**_

I ended up leaning against the railing of the ship watching the eerily quiet sea, thinking of everything I've learnt the past four months. My magic was beyond the normal for a gypsy, I knew this, embraced it even. So could it be possible for me to be Saint Sarah? No. I would know. Wouldn't I?

Okay, so maybe there's a slight chance I could be. Tia Dalma has never been wrong, and she said I was. But there's a first for everything right?

And if I were to be the Goddess of Fate, wouldn't I remember my past life? Wouldn't I know who I was?

But then why does every inch of my body scream that I am? That it makes sense?

In the distance, a group of dolphins jumped in the water. Three in particular stuck out. They were grouped together and always stuck close. _A family_, I surmised.

Oh, how I wanted that. It's was my deepest dream to live that life. The life of a normal English woman. To have a husband who came home to read his children a story well pass their bedtime, because I promised them that they could say goodnight to their father. To have a home to call my own, a place to settle down with the love of my life. While I had that once, it was obviously too good to last.

I had to be cursed. And worse, even if I did manage to break the curse, it'd be to no avail. I managed to fall in love with someone whose only true love happens to be the sea.

"Beat that Calypso! At least he loved you back!"

My voice echoed back to me. An empty, hollow sound.

I glanced down at my hands as they clasped and unclasped. Damn, the ring was still there.

"Beautiful creatures aren't they?"

Startled, I nearly jumped overboard. I turned to see who stood behind me. Not that his voice wasn't a dead giveaway. I placed a hand over my racing heart and took a deep breath. "Jack, you can't do that to me."

"Do what, love?" he wondered leaning on the railing next to me.

"Scare me. I could've hurt you," I mumbled.

He frowned. "Could not. You haven't a sword, nor a pistol on you."

"I don't have to rely on those petty things any longer," I say with a smile.

"And what does a girl like you have to hurt someone to not have to worry about petty things to protect herself like swords, daggers, and pistols?"

"Magic," I whispered.

"Magic?"

"Oh, yes. During my most recent stay with Tia Dalma, she has helped me reach some of my magic's true potential. Even showing me a few of her own tricks."

"So, the voodoo woman taught you magic?" Jack pondered.

I shook my head. "You've changed, Jackie _dragă_. And not for the better."

I gave him a slight smile before walking away my head now clouded with even more questions than before.

"Says the woman betraying her best friend!"

* * *

Taking in the horrid sights and sounds and smells of the bar, I closed my eyes, sighing heavily. I may not like the last free port, but Tortuga is the closest I've been to home in a long while. Closer to Tia Dalma's place at least.

Just to my right, Gibbs sighed up unsuspecting men. I pitied us really. All of us here. On this rotten planet. It wasn't fair to be used as pawns in someone else's game least of all the ones we didn't know.

To my right leaning in his chair with his feet up, sat Jack as he tried to get his compass to point in a single direction. I'd offer my help but I'd much rather watch him get frustrated.

"I know what I want. I know what I want…" he said shaking the compass.

I chuckled, breaking off a leaf from the plant behind me. I began fanning myself, the humid stagnant air in the tavern becoming too much. "Obviously not, otherwise we would have a heading by now."

Jack ignored my outburst and looked to Gibbs fleetingly. "How we going?"

"Including those four?" Gibbs asked.

I sighed. "_Patru_. It was a good idea, _dragă_, _dar se pare că_, no one wants to sail with Captain Jack Sparrow."

Jack slammed his compass shut and shook it really hard.

I rolled my eyes and turned to the newest unlucky whelp.

"And what's your story?" Gibbs asked.

"My story," the stranger began, "It's exactly the same as your story just one chapter behind. I chased a man across the seven seas."

Jack snapped his compass shut and looked to the man same time I did. I tried to get a good look at his face.

"The pursuit cost me my crew, my commission, and my life." He reached for the bottle of rum.

"_Comodor_?" The Romanian word slipped from my mouth as I scooted closer to Gibbs, sounding similar to its English equivalent.

He took a swig from the bottle. "No, not anymore," he sneered, "Weren't you listening?"

Norrington leaned down to us. "I nearly had you all off Tripoli. I would have, if not for the hurricane."

"_Doamne dumnezeule,_ you didn't try to sail through it?" I wondered.

"So, do I make your crew or not?"

I bit my lip. I might not have personally liked the man in front of me, but I respected him. And I did not want to see him at the mercy of a lovesick bastard such as Davy Jones.

"You haven't said where you're going. Somewhere nice!?" He flipped the table sending me and Gibbs into the fireplace behind us.

I recovered quickly, and watched as Jack tried to escape by hiding behind a plant.

"So am I not worthy to serve under Captain Jack Sparrow? Or should I just kill you now?" Commodore wondered as he pulled his pistol on Jack, cocking it.

After a bit of dodging on Jack's part, he announced James was hired.

"Sorry. Old habits and all that."

Two of the four previous hired whelps helped Jack escape by advancing on the ex-navy man. After that the bar went to hell.

Cursing under my breath for forgetting to carry a weapon in with me, I stuck close to Jack.

"Sorry you don't have a weapon now, eh?" Jack mocked.

"Oh, shut it. I can still handle myself."

He picked up a hat off the ground as we climbed the stairs.

"That one doesn't– Oh! –suit you, Jackie," I tell him as I dodge a couple of brawling men.

He traded hats with one and stuck that on his head.

"Nor that one… I miss the old hat. Where's that one?"

"I lost it," he says, switching hat's once again. "Thanks, mate." He barely touched the guy and he flipped off the edge of the balcony.

We continued on only to be stopped by two men about to throw a third. I took the hat and placed it on the third. Stepping back, I motioned for them to continue about their business.

"I think it's best we get outta here before one or all of us get hurt." Gibbs and Jack nodded their approval and we made our way to the _Pearl_.

* * *

_**A/N: The dolphin scene took me three tries to write but I loved every minute of it shockingly.**_

_**Translation:**_

___partru - four  
dragă_, _dar se pare că - honey, but it seems  
__Doamne dumnezeule_ -dear god


	10. Chapter 10

_**Chapter ten**_

"Captain Sparrow?" A voice called from behind us.

"Come to join me crew, lad? Welcome aboard!" Jack rebuked, barely turning.

I on the other hand did. Especially after the so called 'lad' said her next line.

"I've come to find the man I love."

Jack became flustered. "I'm deeply flattered, son, but my first and only love is the sea."

"Not you, Jack, but Will," I explained. "Elizabeth, _dragi_, wonderful to see you!" I wrapped her in a hug, and she reciprocated.

"Hide the rum," Jack mumbled. I pulled away from the woman I helped raise just in time to see Jack walk up to us. "These clothes do not flatter you at all. It should be a dress or nothing. I happen to have no dress in my cabin."

I slapped his arm. "Quit being a pig. _Dragă_, if it helps I might be able to find you something more suitable, if you prefer it."

Elizabeth smiled, "It's quite alright, Luna. As for you, Jack," she said more seriously. "I know Will came to find you. Where is he?"

I frowned, biting my lip once more. "Um… about that…"

"Darling, I am truly un happy to have to tell you this, but…" Jack began, "through an unfortunate and an entirely un-seeable series of circumstances that had nothing what so ever to do with me, poor Will has been press-ganged in to Davy Jones's crew."

I winced. Hmm, yeah that's what happened.

"Davy Jones?" Miss Swann asked confused.

James threw up a bit more and I decided I did not want to go swimming anytime soon. "Oh, please. The captain of the _Flying Dutchman_?"

"You look bloody awful. What are you doing here?" I wondered.

"Jack hired me. I can't help if his standards are lax."

"Oh yeah… Must've had a bit too much rum…"

"You smell funny," Jack said.

"Jack!" The three of us turned back to Elizabeth. "All I want is to find Will," she told us.

I nodded and looked down. Jack's compass caught my eye. I looked up suddenly, biting my thumb nail, a thought taking action. "Are you certain? Is that what you really want most?' I questioned.

"Of course."

I slipped the compass away from Jack, put my arm around Elizabeth and began walking to the ship. "Because I would think that you'd want to find a way to save Will most."

"And you have a way of doing that?" Elizabeth inquired.

I held my arms out. "I'm Sati-Sara, of course I do." I briefly had time to her Jack mumble a question about Sati-Sara before I continued. "There's a chest, one of unknown size and origin. It contains the still beating heart of Davy Jones. And whoever possesses the chest possesses the leverage to command Jones to do whatever he or she wants, if we were to find that, then we could save your _preţioase logodnicul_; precious fiancé."

"You don't actually believe her do you?" James asked.

"She helped raise me and has never given me a reason not to trust her, so yes… How do we it?"

I smiled and dangled the small black box. "Jack's compass is… _unic_—unique."

"'Unique' here having the meaning of 'broken,'" James inputted.

"Not true. It simply does not point north," I argue, "It points to the thing you want most in this world."

"Oh, Luna. Are you telling the truth?" she wondered.

"Every word, _dragoste_." I placed the compass in her hands and stepped back.

"And what you want most in this world is to find the chest of Davy Jones, is it not?" Jack asked, breaking out of his silence.

"To save Will," she objected.

"By finding to chest of Davy Jones." He opened the compass and backed away quickly. He returned though, apparently just in time to see our heading. "Mr. Gibbs!"

"Cap'n?" The first mate called back and he stepped off the gang plank.

"We have our heading," I stated, marching past them, "Finally!"

"Cast off those lines. Weigh anchor and crow that canvas!"

The wind seemed to pick up slightly, not enough to warn of a coming storm, but as if it was happy we were to set sail. I really couldn't blame it.

* * *

I waltzed over to where James Norrington sat sort of off to the side of everyone in the galley. He glanced up to me briefly when I sat, his emerald eyes pondering.

"If you're conjuring up ways to kills us and extract your revenge, you might want to hold off," I say as I speared a piece of pork. "At least for a little while."

"And why is that?" he wondered slightly annoyed.

I took a deep breath and sighed. "Because I simply don't want to die yet."

Norrington rolled his eyes at my attempted humor. I didn't find it very funny either but, I needed to break the ice.

"But seriously," I said. "We're in trouble. Technically, Jack is, and you know him, thinking he can escape everything. He's managed to find a way to ruin as many lives as possible on the way. I'm sure he's already ruined Will's tricking him onto the _Dutchman_. He planned on trading the lives of a hundred men just to settle his debt."

He looked fully into my face. "Why are you telling me this?" he asked genuinely.

I shrugged and racked my brain for a reason. "I'm not quite sure why, after all you did try you hang me, but I respect you, _carissimi_." The Latin word slipped from my mouth without a second thought. I prayed to every deity I could think of that Norrington didn't understand what that meant. "And I've always trusted you, more than I should."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, for six years I watched you hang pirate after pirate, and I felt that if you were to find out about my past or even my heritage that I would not face the same punishment."

He stared at me for a moment, his green eyes searching. I blushed deeply, which only proved to confuse _me_ even more.

I don't know what had gotten into me. First, I call him 'my dearest' in Latin. Second, I admit I trust him, something I don't do readily. And now I'm blushing. Normally, this type of behavior was reserved for Jack and two other people, one of which was dead. And then it hit me. Crap.

"Why?" he asked. "I don't understand."

I tried to smile, but it felt more like a grimace. "You wouldn't." I pushed my relatively untouched plate away, stood, and fled from the room.

I ended up in Jack's cabin. It was a natural reflex to run to him whenever I was troubled. He was in the chart room when I found him.

"Hey Lu," he said glancing up at me swiftly and returning to his course planning. "What do you-" His brow furrowed and looked back up at me. "What's wrong, love?" he asked seriously.

"Nothing." It was meant to truthful. Technically, nothing was wrong, it was just concerning. But my voice wasn't having any of it. It came out raspy and raw and it cracked.

"No, something's wrong. Else, you wouldn't be crying."

"What?" I wiped at my face. I couldn't be crying, but sure enough my hand was moist with salty traitorous tears and worse yet it seemed the make-up around my eyes had started to run. The proof of it just proved to worsen my state and started choking on sobs as I tried to stop my body from shaking. Evidently, I failed and crumpled to the ground in an emotional heap. I heard Jack's chair scrape the floor as he stood, his strong arms wrapped around me a second later.

He didn't speak, just held me close and hummed. The melody was sad and haunting. I was sure I'd never heard it before but it still sounded extremely familiar. I don't know how long the two of us sat like that but eventually I cried myself to sleep.

* * *

_**A/n: Okay, so if you were keeping count that's two chapters for every day I missed and/or do not plan on posting.**_

_**Romanian translations:**_

_dragi - Dear  
__Dragă_ - honey

_**Latin translations:**_

___carissimi_ - my dearest

_**Alrighty! That's it for today! I promise I shall be back to normal posting patterns next week!**_

_**Until I see you again... Lots o' peace, love, unity, and respect.**_

_**Lyra Raine Sparrow 3**_


	11. Chapter 11

_**Chapter eleven**_

"_After me; _comoară_."_

"_Com-air-uh."_

_I stifled a laugh. _Comoară _meaning treasure, was actually one of the simpler Romanian words. "No. Coam-ARE-uh. Roll your 'r.'"_

"_Com-ARE-uh," Jack tried again._

_I shook my head. "Coam-ARE-uh, Coam, like comb, not com. Say it with me. Comb…"_

"_Comb."_

"_Are…"_

"_Are."_

"_Uh…"_

"_Uh."_

_I nodded, "Very good. Now, put that together."_

"_Comb-are-uh. _Comoară,_" Jack smiled. "Did I say it right?"_

_My already present grin widened. "Yes."_

"_Good! How do you say 'love'?" he asked._

"_Dragoste." I said as I wrote it down on the paper._

"_Deraw-go-stee?"_

_I shook my head. "You _have_ to roll your 'r,'" I repeated. "Dra.."_

"_Dra-go-stee."_

"_Stay. Dra-go-stay."_

"_Dra-go-stee. Dra-go-stay. _Dragoste_?"_

_I nodded again. "Great!"_

"_So how good am I doing, _dragoste_?"_

_I knew he'd only been working on the language for a little while, but at that moment I really wanted to laugh. It was funny to hear someone miss use a word. "No, no. Dragoste is the word for the feeling not the… _poreclă."

"_Pore-vey-cla?"_

_I smiled._ "Poreclă _means nickname. The word you want is _dragă_ or _drag_. It depends on how you mean it. _Drag_ is more… oh, _care e cuvântul_? _Incivili, _er, demeaning."_

_Jack nodded and went silent. "How would you say 'I love you?' … Out of curiosity."_

"'Ego amare'_.__" I shook my head as my hand wrote _'Te iubesc.' "Paenitet. _Bluergh_! Scuze!" _I dropped the quill and threw my hands up_. "'Te iubesc' _is Romanian for 'I love you.'_ 'Ego amare' _is Latin for the same phrase. Perhaps it would be better if we continued this at another time. I'm beginning to get tongue tied."_

* * *

When I woke in the morning the first thing I did was climb up to the crow's nest for some much needed time alone. Up here I could hardly hear the commotion on board as we headed towards the island.

I ended up meditating, forcing myself as calm as possible. I cleared my mind and thought of one person I haven't seen in a while… Governor Swann…

_After a dizzying array of colors, I found myself in an office that looked vaguely familiar surrounded by a bunch of people I didn't recognize._

_Becket drew his sword, and turned towards me. "There's something to knowing the exact shape of the world and one's place in it. Don't you agree?"_

"_I assure you, these are not necessary," the man I stood next to spoke. I turned to look at him. It was the governor! Without his wig I would have never recognized him had he not spoken._

"_I had you brought here because I thought you'd be interested in the whereabouts of your daughter," Beckett said._

"_You have news of her?" the governor asked skeptically._

"_Most recently seen on the island of Tortuga…" another man spoke as he looked in a telescope, Mr. Mercer. Geez, I hadn't even seen him. "And then left in the company of a known pirate, Jack Sparrow…"_

"_Captain," I said out of habit, even though they couldn't hear me, "Captain Jack Sparrow."_

"…_and other fugitives from justice."_

"_The only thing I've done wrong is run and a bit of honest piracy. I've yet to commit a crime. Perhaps lie… but that hardly counts," I mumble. "And that's no way to speak of your superior's fiancée. Even if it's true."_

"'_Justice'? Hardly," the governor replied._

"_Including the previous owner of this sword," he sheathed said sword, "I believe." He placed the sword back into its rightful case. "Our ships are in pursuit. Justice will be dispensed by cannonade and cutlass and all manner of remorseless pieces of metal. I personally find it distasteful to even contemplate the horror facing all those on board." He turned back to the governor who looked down at his shackled hands._

"_What do you want from me?"_

"_Your authority as governor, your influence in London, and you loyalty to the East India Trading Company."_

_Ooh, ouch._

"_To you, you mean," Governor Swann said pointedly._

_Beckett walked dangerously close. "Shall I remove these shackles?"_

_Resigned, the governor looked diminished. "Do what you can for my daughter," he told him giving up._

"Luna! Luna! If you're going to be up here, you've at least got to be doing something. Otherwise, move!"

I turned and glared at the captain. "For you information, I was checking up on Governor Swann, who by the way isn't doing so well."

"And how did you do that?" Jack asked somewhere between ticked off and intrigued.

"Astral projection. It's common amongst Romani," I say simply. "I needed a clear head so I went somewhere quiet."

I closed my eyes, not really wanting to fight with Jack at the moment. Especially, not since he more than likely won't come out of this one alive. Not that I didn't want him to, it was just something I knew.

Pushing my power further I thought of what I wanted; a peaceful conversation with the man I always considered my best friend, even if he didn't think of me in that way any longer.

I felt a familiar warmth in my stomach start to spread throughout my body, becoming hotter every second until it became a raging fire. But it wasn't uncomfortable. No, it was never that. It was a good feeling.

I opened my silvery eyes to see Jack's warm brown ones staring at me.

"Oh, sorry I bothered you. I'm just…"

I nodded knowingly. _Scared_… I wanted to say but thought better of it. "I know. I am too." I brushed back a loose strand of his hair out of his face. The power flowing through me whisked into him, granting my wish. "What's gotten into us, Jack? We used to be best friends, nigh inseparable."

"Don't know,_ dragă_."

I smiled at the use of the Romanian endearment. "I am sorry for the small part of mine in the mutiny."

He shook his head and sat next to me. "I've never blamed you, not really. You really didn't have a choice. It was me or your father." He shrugged. "You had already lost you mother, anyone would have chosen him over me in your place."

I sighed, "I keep thinking that maybe if I had said something sooner then, I could've…"

"No, don't do that to yourself, love. There was nothing you could've done."

"But there was." I stood up and grabbed a hold of the rigging and began to climb down.

* * *

_**A/n: So I have some news. Firstly, I have a Facebook page finally, you can go like that. The link's on my profile. From now on I'll post any uber major news on there.**_

_**Secondly, after I finish posting the third installment of this series I am going to take a break from it to finish up some different projects I have. Then I might possibly start another POTC story. I'm sticking the summary for that on my profile as well.**_

_**So that's it. At least I'm pretty sure.**_

_**care e cuvântul**__? - what's the word? (Romanian)_  
Paenitet - Sorry (Latin)  
_**Scuze - sorry (Romanian)**_

_**Please leave a review?**_

_**Thanks ev'ryone, I love ye!  
Lyra Raine Sparrow**_


	12. Chapter 12

_**Chapter twelve**_

"Beckett?" Gibbs asked as we looked over the Letters of Marque Elizabeth gave Jack.

"Yes, they're signed," Elizabeth replied. "Lord Cutler Beckett of the East India Trading Company."

"Bluergh!" Jack exclaimed as he read the Letters.

"Will was working for Beckett and never said a word," Gibbs stated. "Beckett wants the compass. Only one reason for that."

"Of course," I say, "He wants the chest." Jack glared at me, a warning to keep my mouth shut. So much for my wish.

"Yes," Elizabeth agreed, "He did say something about a chest."

"If the company controls the chest, they control the sea," Gibbs explained.

"A truly discomforting notion, love," Jack stated.

I nodded, frowning. "_Şi rele_. Bad for every mother's child what calls them self pirate."

"I think there's a bit more speed to be coaxed from these sails," Gibbs said as a distraction. "Brace the foreyard!"

"Might I enquire as to how you came by these?" Jack asked.

"Persuasion," Miss Swann answered.

"Friendly?" I wondered.

"Decidedly not."

"Will strikes a deal for these and upholds it with honor, yet you are the one standing here with the prize – full pardon. 'Commission as a privateer on behalf of England and the East India Trading Company.'"

"As if one would find employment the same as freedom," I mumble. "Certainly not Jack."

Said pirate walked away stuffing the letters in his jacket.

"Jack," Elizabeth called following him, "the letters, give them back."

"No," he rebuked. "Persuade me." His voice was suave and a feeling tinged my stomach.

"You do know Will taught me how to handle a sword?" she murmured in his ear. I rolled my eyes as the feeling became came stronger.

He turned around to face her. "As I said, persuade me." It came out flirtatiously and did it in for me. I wish he would look at me like that!

I stepped between the two, the fiery magic starting to spread. I tried my hardest to reel it in but it didn't listen. _Note to self: Never wish when jealous._ "The only persuading to be done here will be by me. So if you'll return to your duties; both of you, and see to it that we arrive to our destination on time so that this little…acquaintanceship will end preferably sooner rather than later."

Jack looked at me remarkably. "I don't think I've ever seen you jealous, love."

I scoffed. "_En nu sunt gelos_!"

He crooked his head, a splitting gold-toothed smile on his face. "You said that in Romanian."

I shook my head and walked away, finding my newest relaxing spot on the stairs leading to the helm.

"My tremendous intuitive sense of the female creature informs me that you are troubled."

I rolled my eyes. "Go away, Jack."

"Not likely."

I sighed. "I've been thinking. I was nearly nine when my mother forced me to leave Romania. I was sent to England, where I brushed up on my English, not that it wasn't always impeccable, and was sent down to Caribbean. Tia Dalma took me under her wing and treated me sweetly until I was reunited with my father. Then I met you, became friends with you, and seriously considered falling for you." I smiled at him sadly. "You were yanked from my life _familiar_…" I shake my head, that didn't sound right. "No, I mean… unceremoniously. I ran. I couldn't live with my father after that, knowing he was the reason I lost my best friend."

I take in his downtrodden expression and sigh. "When I did reunite with you, you weren't you, not really. I mean, some of the things you said and did reminded me of you. But you were _răzbunător_, and that wasn't the best friend I remembered. And we met up with my father and within forty-eight hours- no, less than that, you killed him. And now, right as I'm ready to forgive; ready to take that swan dive into the unknown, I'm going to lose you." I placed a tender touch on his cheek and looked deep into his warm brown eyes. "I can't handle that, Jack."

He stood and looked down at me. "You'll never lose me, darling, not really."

I tried to smile but just wouldn't come and Jack saw that. He left then, and just when he was out of ear shot I spoke again, barely a whisper. "No, but you'll hurt me at my weakest moment and that's close enough."

It didn't take long for him to stumble over to Elizabeth.

"My tremendous intuitive sense of the female creature informs me that you are troubled."

I rolled my eyes. Perhaps it's time he used a new line?

"I just thought I'd be married by now." From her voice I could tell she was extremely upset. "I'm so ready to be married."

Something, and I couldn't tell you what, but something clicked in me. Putting two and two together was easy, it was coming out with four, now that that was tricky. I realized that with my new found power, the power to control other's wills, I could keep myself from getting hurt even if I fell. Even if the curse came true.

Using all my might I closed my eyes, _I wish Jack would fall for Elizabeth, but just the slightest bit_. Again the burning rush of power washed through me and as it peaked I looked to Jack and caught his gaze. I repeated the wish once more for good standing and winked.

Of course, it hurt to watch as Jack hit on Elizabeth, but not as much as it would've if it was of his own free will.

She stood and walked away, a bit disgusted.

"We are very much alike, you and I. I and you. Us," Jack rambled as he followed her. I moved to a closer spot to listen to the conversation.

"Oh. Except for a sense of honor and decency and-and a moral center." She turned to look at him, more disgusted than before. "And personal hygiene." Elizabeth returned to looking out at the ocean.

Jack sniffed his armpit and I had to try really hard to stifle my laughing.

"Trifles. You will come over to my side. I know it." He swaggered to the other side of her and leaned in close.

"You seem very certain," Miss Swann pointed out.

"One word, love. Curiosity. You long for freedom. You long to do what you want to do because you want it. To act on selfish impulse. You want to see what it's like"

_Don't we all? I mean, that's the whole reason I ran back to him. To be free._

Jack leaned away from her and smiled. "One day, you won't be able to resist."

"Why doesn't your compass work?" she asked to change the subject.

He looked at her strangely. "My compass works fine."

"Because you and I _are_ alike and there will come a moment when you have a chance to show it," she smiled devilishly. I began rethinking my wish… "To do the right thing."

"I love those moments. I like to wave at them as they pass by." He leaned on the railing and looked out.

Elizabeth went next him and did the same, only glancing at him briefly when she spoke. "You'll have the chance to do something… something courageous. And when you do, you'll discover something."She looked to him fully, catching his gaze. "That you're a good man."

"All evidence to the contrary," Jack said looking away.

Elizabeth whispered her next line and I walked away not really caring any longer.

"I never thought you one for spying."

I turned around and pressed the dagger that was hiding in my sash to the speaker's neck. My eyes widened at who it was and I dropped my arm. Norrington tried backing away from the knife, the look on his face said he was scared but he couldn't hide the mirth in his eyes. "Sorry. But must all men find scaring women half to death funny?"

He smirked. "I should be apologizing," he spoke sincerely.

"For what? No harm, no foul. If you're going to be on a pirate ship, then you must learn to not apologize. Not sincerely at least," I pronounced determinedly.

"I'm apologizing for last night," James stated. "I was quite rude to you and it's been weighing heavily on my mind. You've done me no wrong, other than being acquainted with Sparrow and freeing him from jail."

"And being part of the reason your life is ruined. I know." I stared pointedly at the water off in the distance. A brief silence passed and I looked over at him the same time he looked at me. I gazed in to his emerald orbs and suddenly I wanted to bear my soul to him. Stupid curse. I tore our gazes apart and looked back to the ocean. My hand wandered to the silver necklace in my bosom. "I didn't choose this life."

"What?" I felt his wandering eyes on the side of my face, which was partially hidden behind black hair.

I chuckled at his disbelief. "It's true. I was sort of forced into it. I uh, I was raised in Romania by my mother and grandmother and two other mothers. When I was eight, shortly before my ninth birthday, I had a nightmare and went in search of my mother. I found her in the kitchen talking to a man about me. He, uh, he told my _mami_ about how his son had chosen me and how I was to be wed with in the year."

"Married? At eight-years-old?" James asked astounded.

I simply shrugged. "I'm Romani. It's tradition for a boy from nine to twelve to chose a girl to wed in that same age range."

He growled at the information. "That's sick."

I drew a shaky breath. "But that's the way of my people. Not all caravans are as extreme as mine when it comes to tradition. But my mother wasn't very traditional. She managed to escape that. Like I, she was sent away to be free of the Romany life. However, she went back as when she became pregnant with me." I sighed. That was a lengthy story all in itself. I was shocked that she'd written it all in one letter.

He hummed. "How did you end up here?"

"Well, that's simple. My mother sent me away to with a friend of hers with the intent on sending me to meet my father. All I had was a small trunk full of clothes and two letters. I managed to somehow end up in an obeah woman's shack, with no idea where to go next. Jack's father showed up, Tia insisted that he take me to Tortuga. I was just over nine when I arrived. Teague, as promised to Tia, kept me by his side until I found what I was looking for. Of course that was quite hard seen as though I was never allowed off the ship, nor did I have any clue as to what I was looking for.

"Good ole Teague was 'bout to set off on a venture when I ran into Barbossa." I smiled at the distant memory. "I had the two letters with me; mind you I was still on the ship so I was free to roam about without getting into trouble. The one addressed to him fell from my hand and he picked it up, read it, and stared at me for a full twenty minutes before anything was said between us. He pulled me into his arms and kissed my forehead, told me he'd been waiting to see how long it took my mother to send me away. Of course I was only left with Angelique whenever the _Wicked Wench_ was on a voyage, _after_ the crew found out I was a gypsy and basically tossed me overboard. So that's how I came into this life."

By the end of the story I had turned around and was now leaning my back onto the railing as I watched his numerous expressions pass over his face.

"Why didn't you leave when you were older?" James asked, confused.

"Oh, believe me, we tried."

"We?"

"Jack and I. By the time Jack was eighteen, Teague had come across a ship better suited to him than the _Wench_, which was handed down to Jack." I frowned. "He took off. Started working for Beckett and the EITC. Jack was ashamed his father was a pirate, believe it or not. Not that he'd ever admit to it."

"What of you? Were you ashamed of your father?"

I shrugged and turned back around. "I suppose to an extent, yes. But I was more ashamed of the life. By then I had been introduced to most of what they did. Of course, I'd always be locked in a cabin when it got too dangerous. I managed to sneak off with Jack. But it wasn't long until my father caught up with me again."

A throat cleared behind us and I looked behind me to find Jack. I'm sure if the brief look of worry that passed over his face, I paled at least three shades lighter than my strangely fair olive complection.

* * *

_**A/n: only four chapters after this!**_

_**Translation:**_

___Şi rele_ - and bad  
En nu sunt gelos - I am not jealous!  
răzbunător - vengeful

**_So, I hope you all have enjoyed this story. My dad finds it hard to follow but he also hasn't seen the movie about a million times. I hope you don't!_**

**_Please, please, please critize me, preferably in a compliment sandwich... It's not often I get critized and I know I make a lot of mistakes. I'm only human. I had someone critize me the other day and rather feeling awkward or upset, I was thankful._**

**_Yours Truely,  
Lyra Raine Sparrow_**


	13. Chapter 13

_**Chapter thirteen**_

I stared at the chocolate eyed captain.

"What are ye doin', love?" he asked.

I tilted my head to the left. "Enjoying a conversation with the former Commodore."

He squinted his eyes at me. "About what exactly?"

I shrugged nonchalantly. "Oh, this and that. What's it matter to you, Jackie?" Jack chuckled and glimpse of a little green monster frittered in and out of his eyes. I smirked. "You're not _gelos_ are you?"

He scoffed. "Love, Captain Jack Sparrow does not get jealous."

I gave him an innocent smile. "Oh, of course not. What was I thinking?"

"Obviously, you weren't," James answered, playing along.

"_Clar._"

"Land, ho!" Gibbs yelled. Everyone, save for Jack and I rushed to see the island.

"I'll get the jar of dirt," I told Jack seriously.

The trip to shore was not only crowded, but quite amusing. Pintel and Ragetti were bickering as always. This time over the pronunciation of "kraken."

"'Krocken' is how it's pronounced in the original Scandinavian, and 'kracken' closer to that," Ragetti stated.

"Well, we ain't original Scandinavians, are we?" Pintel asked. "'Krayken.'"

I sighed. "Well, I'm a Romanian gypsy and I've always pronounced it 'krockien'."

They both looked at me and I shrugged.

"It's a mythological creature. I can calls it what I wants," Ragetti said.

"That settles that," I murmured.

After we reached the shore, we stumbled about following Elizabeth as she followed the confused compass. Finally she sat down and gave up. And I, dressed in my normal Gypsy garb including my bare feet, sat down in the smoldering sand as well, thankful for the break.

"This doesn't work," she claimed. "And it certainly doesn't show you what you want most."

James had an "uh-huh... sure…" look on his face. Jack paraded over to the compass that sat on the ground.

"Yes, it does," he countered. "You're sitting on it."

She stared at him. "Beg pardon?"

"Move." He waved his hands in a shooing motion until she did as he ordered.

He whistled at James to get started on digging.

I began playing in the sand, writing simple messages.

"_Te iubesc_… who?" Jack wondered as her read over my shoulder.

"No one." I flung my hand about, erasing my message.

He plopped down next to me and leaned on my shoulder, smiling cheekily. "Now, correct me if I'm wrong but isn't '_te iubesc' _Romanian for 'I love you'?"

"And if it is?"

He plainly stared at me, a hint of shock in his eyes. "You love me?"

I smiled at him. "You are my best friend, Jack, why wouldn't I love you?"

He squinted in that 'You can't fool me' way he does so often. "Most people don't doodle mindlessly in the sand about them. Nor do they spell them."

"How did you…?"

"The first time, up in the crow's nest, I was suddenly overwhelmed with a calm sensation when you touched me. Normally, it's just the opposite," he admitted. "The second, I had no intention of flirtin' the way I did with Elizabeth, at least not with ye in earshot. Not after the conversation we had today."

I sighed resignedly, "Yes Jack, I love you, but I'm not _in love_ with you." I patted his cheek with a ringed hand, right as a hollow clank came from the hole Norrington was digging.

The four of us managed to get the large trunk out and opened. Jack and Elizabeth rifled through it without care but I, I managed to not cry of the overwhelming wave of sadness that crashed over me. Love letters and trinkets and other various things passed between two lovers, stuffed in a trunk and buried to be forgotten. But of course things of this magnitude never are.

Jack pulled out the smaller trunk and we all pressed an ear to it. A hollow thump-thump, thump-thump could be heard.

"It's real," Elizabeth breathed.

"You actually were telling the truth," James articulated.

"I do that quite a lot, yet people are always surprised," Jack stated.

"I never am. I always know. But then again, it could be that I grew up with you… well, sort of," I mumble.

"With good reason." Will stood just off behind us soaking wet. Elizabeth ran to her fiancé and they had quite a loving embrace leaving the three of us feeling awkward.

"How did you get here?" I asked finally.

"Sea turtles mate," came his reply, "A pair of them, strapped to my feet."

"No so easy, is it?" Jack wondered.

"But I do own you thanks, Jack."

"You do?" Jack quizzed, unsure.

"After you tricked me onto that ship to square your debt with Jones…"

Elizabeth was incredulous. "What?"

"What?" Jack mocked.

I dropped my face into my hand and pinched the bridge of my nose. "Forgot about that…"

"…I was reunited with my father," Will finished.

I looked up. "Oh. You're welcome then."

"Everything you said to me, every word was a lie," Elizabeth snapped as she stormed over to Jack and I.

I stepped between them. "Honestly, Miss Swann? You're amongst a bunch of pirates and a gypsy… What did you expect?"

"Time and tide, love," Jack said.

I rolled my eyes as Will knelt down to stab Jones' heart. Obviously, he doesn't know the story.

"Oi! What are you doing?" Jack asked him.

"I'm gonna kill Jones."

Jack drew his sword. "I can't let you do that, William. 'Cause if Jones is dead, who's to call his terrible beastie off the hunt, eh?"

I squinted at Jack. Will moved away from the dangerous chest and stood up. Jack reached out to him, expecting something.

"Now, if you please. The key."

Will snatched Elizabeth's sword and pointed it at the captain. I drew my cutlass, (yes I remembered this time) and stood next to Jack.

"I keep the promises I make, Jack," Will promised, "I intend to free my father. I hope you're here to see it."

James pulled his blade out as well. "I can't let you do that either. So sorry."

"I knew you'd warm up to me eventually." Jack took a step to the former commodore only to be stopped by the point of a sword.

"Lord Beckett desires to content of that chest," James began. This didn't shock me. It only made sense for him to want his old job back, and this was the way to go. "I deliver it, I get my life back."

Something told me he needed his job back for things to work out properly in the end. I intend to see that through.

"Ah. The dark side of ambition." Jack turned his head to look at me.

"Oh, I prefer to see it as the promise of redemption." He lunged at Will causing Elizabeth to screech.

"Luna, darling," Jack said, a bit preoccupied, "if there was ever a time for you to spell anybody it'd be them now."

I shook my head softly. "I can't. There certain things I have to let play out. This is one of them."

The trio of men continued to wail away at each other, the key changing hands often.

Elizabeth screamed at them to stop, without much avail. I tried to be more forceful and join in the fighting. Of course, the two of us being women and only thinking of ourselves, left the chest unguarded.

"Will you three knock it off!" I bellowed as I tried to unarm Will. Jack threw me out of harm's way and on to my ass. "_Piraţii blestemate însetaţi de sânge_!"

* * *

_**A/n: I sincerely apologize for the lateness of this. Honestly I do. School seems to be overwhelming me. But nonetheless I am going to work out a regular schedule as I have been.**_

_**So I just got done watching Rango and The Rum Diary. Both I definitely recommend. So to further sate my thirst for Johnny I thought I might squeeze in a chapter. Hopefully I'll stick to what I planned which is to post two chapters a day until Wednesday. Since there's only five chapters of this story left, you'll get the first chapter of Part III on Wednesday then hopefully I'll be back on a regular schedule.**_

_Clar - Obviously  
__Piraţii blestemate însetaţi de sânge! - Damn bloodthirsty pirates!_

**___See you guys soon.  
Lyra Raine Sparrow_**


	14. Chapter 14

_**Chapter fourteen**_

Jack and James knocked each other back and Will snagged to key, taking off again. I stood and watched as Jack somehow got the key again and James threw Will down and kicked sand in his face. I kept up with Jack as much as I could. I stopped for a second when we reached an old mill and tried to catch my breath but Jack pulled on my wrist and dragged me up the stairs.

I continued to climb as Jack stopped to fend off Norrington. They fought, Will joined and somehow managed to make it to the roof with the key in hand.

I parried with him for a bit, taking the key when I had a chance. It was promptly ripped out of my hand and I turned to see Norrington. I chased him and Will to the waterwheel. "Don't you know it's a bad idea to piss off a gypsy?" I wondered, taking the key back a bit too forcefully. Jack appeared behind me as I lost my footing. I could've sworn I saw Jack and James try to grab me as I fell. The key flew from my hand and into the air and was grabbed by Jack.

I slipped down the roof and landed on my bum next to Jack's sword. Jack himself landed next to me not a minute later. He got up, helped me stand and grabbed his sword. "Still rooting for you mate!" he called back.

We tried to make our get away with the key, but of course Jack had to fall into an un-dug grave.

"Could you be anymore clumsy, _vrabie_?" I muttered as I tried helping him out. There was a loud crack behind me as I got him out and out of the way of the large wheel.

"Now, we just have to get back to the chest," he groaned out of breath.

"Shall we?" We both took off through the jungle and back to the beach. I stopped when I saw one of Davy Jones' crew carrying the chest. "Jack, look!" I said pointing the fish thing out.

Jack's eyes widened and he looked about. He picked up a coconut from our feet and tossed it, knocking off the creature's head.

We sauntered over to the chest where Jack opened it carefully. Sitting in the corner, almost like it was cowering, was the heart of Davy Jones.

"_Brută_," I mumbled.

Jack picked it up and stared at it. I tried not to gag.

"Interesting…" he whispered.

A huge commotion to our left caused him to stuff the heart in his vest and we took off running.

"Jar of dirt," Jack called helplessly as we neared the longboat.

I scrambled about as I grabbed the jar and emptied it out a little. Jack threw the heart in and we hurriedly covered it up. Just as I went to place it back in the boat, one of Jones' fish things swung at Jack. I yelped as Jack fought him off with an oar.

The waterwheel fell not far off from us and James and Will climbed out. Will stumbled off in the direction of the main battle went on and Norrington made his way over toward us.

I stopped him before he got to the boat.

"What are you doing, Luna?" he interrogated, "Get out of my way!"

I shook my head. "The Letters of Marque are in Jack's jacket, the heart is in the jar."

"Why are you helping me?"

"The same reason I've told you so much. Just trust me like I trust you. It'll all work out in the end," He looked at me strangely as I moved out of his way. "GO!" I called as I went to help Will.

It didn't take long before I was forced back to the boat. Jack knocked Will out and Elizabeth rushed to him.

"Leave him!" I bellowed to her. "Unless you plan on using him to hit something, I doubt you can lift him."

The group of fish faces closed in on us.

"We're not getting out of this!" This was Elizabeth's ingenious statement.

"Not with the chest. Into the boat!" ordered Norrington as he reached for the chest.

"You're daft!" I told him, realizing his plan.

He looked at me, gratitude in his eyes. "Don't wait for me." He waddled off, taking the cursed crew with him.

"I say we respect his final wish," I mumble.

"Aye," came Jack's agreement.

* * *

_**A/n: Sorry this is so short but I did the best I could.**_

_**So I'm pretty sure **__vrabie **means** sparrow **and** __Brută_ **means** gross**.**

_**I hoped you enjoyed the chapter, actually this particular on I really don't care that much for.**_

_**Don't forget to check out my Facebook page. The link is on my profile.**_

_**Love you guys!**_

_**Lyra Raine Sparrow**_


	15. Chapter 15

_**Chapter fifteen**_

The Dutchman doesn't get any less scary. Not even a third time. Perhaps because it looked condemned and haunted. Perhaps it was just the crew. Or maybe, it always found the opportune moment to pop out of the sea.

"Lord on high, deliver us," Gibbs whispered from in front of me.

Jack stepped forward. "I'll handle this, mate." He stepped to the railing and held his jar up. "Oi, fishface!"

Jones turned his slightly amused attention on him. His face suddenly turned worried.

"Lose something? Eh? _Scungilli_!" Jack yelled as he fell down the stairs. I rushed to him, though he popped up three seconds later. "Got it! Come to negotiate, eh, have you, you slimy git? Look what I got."

I winced. "Calm down with the insults, please?"

"I got a jar of dirt, I got a jar of dirt and guess what's inside it?" he sang.

Outraged, Jones turned to his crew and ordered them to open fire.

"Hard to starboard?" Jack mumbled.

"Hard to starboard!" I screamed. "Brace up the foreyard!"

Jack and I raced up to the helm. He immediately took over for Gibbs and I went to lean by Elizabeth.

"She's falling behind!" she pointed out.

"Aye. We got her," I mumbled.

"We're the faster?" Will asked.

I nodded a slight smile on my face. "Against the wind, the Dutchman beats us. That's how she takes her pray. But with the wind…"

"We rob her advantage," Gibbs states.

I walk to the mast and rest my forehead on it.

"They're giving up!" Marty calls from above me.

I smile for a second but a deep foreboding felling tugs at my stomach and it drops. "That was too easy."

A sudden something jolts the ship and I hear Jack's jar fall and cringe when he can't find the "thump-thump."

"We must have hit a reef!" a crew member calls.

"No," Will and I say together.

"It's not a reef! Get away from the rail!" he yells.

"What is it?" Elizabeth asked worried more for Will's sanity than anything else.

I barely say "The kraken," when everyone aboard starts screaming.

Will shouts orders but I hardly hear them. No, I look to Jack as he readies a longboat. It wasn't until he steps over the rail do I realize what he's doing.

"JACK, _NENOROCIT LAŞ_!"

He looks at me, sadness overflowing in his eyes. "Sorry, love," he mouths.

I shake my head feeling betrayed and go find Will. It doesn't take long before the putrid green, barnacle-covered tentacles of the kraken slither up the sides of the Black Pearl.

"Easy boys!" Will tells everyone below deck.

"Will?" Elizabeth whimpered.

"Steady! Steady."

"Will!"

"Hold. Hold."

"I think we've held fire long enough," I snap. "Will!"

"FIRE!" he orders.

Everyone does just that. The resulting noise is deafening. Tentacles slam into the deck and fall back into the water. When the last little bit is no longer seen, the crew's cheers of victory could be heard.

"It'll be back," I call out. "We have to get off the ship!"

"There's no boats," Elizabeth points out.

I look and sure enough she right. "Damn it."

"Pull the grates," Will says suddenly. "Get all the gun powder onto the net in the cargo hold!" He hands me a rifle and looks me in the eye. "Whatever you do, don't miss."

"As soon as you're clear," I reply as I follow him down below.

"There's only half a dozen kegs of powder!" Gibbs says catching us.

"Then load the rum," Will says walking away.

I look at him as if he's lost his mind.

"Aye, the rum too!" Gibbs ordered.

I returned on deck to find Elizabeth staring out at Jack shrinking figure. "Oh, you coward," she mumbled.

"He only worries for himself, _dragoste,"_ I tell her, tears pricking at my eyes.

A thud sounds and all at once we're under attack, Tentacles crushing the cannons. There was a flurry of people around me as time slowed. I watched up at the helm as our makeshift bomb rose with Will Turner clinging to it. Tentacles slithered around, snatching up sailors.

My heart raced so loud it was all I could hear. I glanced around noting everyone I knew. Cotton, Pintel, Gibbs, Elizabeth, Ragetti, Marty… My vision paused on Jack as he seemed to just sit and watch as we were being picked off.

"Shoot! Luna, shoot!" My attention turned back to Will who seemed to be stuck in the netting. I lined up my shot and waited for him to fall.

A tentacle grabbed my ankle and pulled me. I was too shocked to scream. The tip was chopped off by Ragetti and I stumbled to get back to the rifle only to have my finger nearly squashed by a boot. I scream a string of both Romanian and English profanities as I try to move it. It doesn't budge and only then do I look up. I smile at the sight of my best friend.

Jack picked up the rifle and aimed it at the swinging net. Will falls and a few barrels tumble out only to explode a second later.

Stunned as the kraken retreats, I stand and watch as the few remaining sailors came out of hiding.

"Captain, orders!" Gibbs calls as everyone rushes to him.

Jack pulls me by my wrist down to the main deck. "Abandon ship. Into the longboat."

"But, Jack. The Pearl," I whisper.

He frowned as he looked around. "She's only a ship, love."

"He's right," Elizabeth said. "We have to head for land."

Ragetti and Pintel mumbled something about lots of water. But I didn't catch it nor Will's response as I took one last look around the ship that I called home for the longest time.

"Abandon ship," Gibbs murmured as He went to board the long boat.

I nodded. "_De abandon de navă sau abandoneze speranţa_..."

Pintel looked at me, clueless.

"Abandon ship or abandon hope."

Everybody but Elizabeth, Jack, and I got it the boat.

"Thank you, Jack."

He gazed at me solemnly. "We're not free yet, love."

"You came back," I whispered.

"Couldn't leave my best friend to die, could I? No matter what mistakes she makes." He looked down pointedly at Beckett's ring.

I frowned and walked away. "You almost did." I slipped down to the boat, afraid to show the tears that suddenly burst free. Ragetti puts a reassuring hand on my back and rubs.

"Where's Jack?" Gibbs asked suddenly.

I looked up to see Elizabeth, alone.

"He elected to stay behind to give us a chance." Everyone was quite for a heartbeat. "Go!" she sneered.

I squinted at the young girl's back. "Elizabeth?" I asked quietly.

She turned and glared at me, her face blank. Save for her eyes.

Pretty much raising the girl, I knew the look she got in her eyes when she lied. It's was always faint but it was always there.

"You horrid wench!" I screamed as I tried to hit her. Gibbs and Will both had to keep me back. "_Tu ai făcut asta_. _Tu l-ai omorât_!"

With tears in her eyes she turned away.

"He was my best friend," I whispered.

* * *

**_A/n: Okay, so recently I found my notebook in which I had originally started writing this in and was shocked to find out just how different they were. I had originally planned to go a whole other route but because I misplaced it and started my Peter Pan fic I forgot about the majority of it. Ahh well..._**

_NENOROCIT LAŞ - Fucking coward  
Tu ai făcut asta. Tu l-ai omorât - You did this. You killed him!_

**_So please please please please review._**

**_And speaking of reviews I would like to thank gothicluver13 and esinger for being the only two to review. You guys always make my day!_**

**_LoVe YoU!  
Lyra Raine Sparrow_**


	16. Chapter 16

_**Chapter sixteen**_

For some reason the candlelit river path to Tia Dalma's was worse than hearing the kraken devour Jack. It meant that the people knew. Which meant Tia knew which made it so much more real. I no longer bothered to hide the tears that fell from my eyes. I was in pain, physically and emotionally. My heart ached. A hole was torn in it, a Jack sized hole. And it was all Elizabeth's fault. I should've known not to leave her alone with him.

The air around me was warm and tropical, but shivered still. I was cold, that was all I felt. But I didn't feel, I couldn't. I didn't even fell the oddly cool embrace of Tia as she welcomed us in her home.

An underused tankard full of amber liquid was placed in front of me. I swished it around. Rum was the last thing I needed at the moment. It reminded me too much of Jack. Everything did.

"The _Black Pearl _is gone," Will said a bit too loudly for the ungainly silence, "along with his captain."

"Aye," replied Gibbs. "And already the world seems a bit less bright… He fooled us all right till the end, but I guess that honest streak finally won out." A brief pause came before he lifted his cup and toasted, "To Jack Sparrow."

"Never another like Captain Jack," Ragetti said raising his glass.

Pintel raised his as well. "He was a gentleman of fortune, he was."

"He was a good man."

I grit my teeth at her voice and abruptly stood. "He was a _great_ man," I sneered at her, slamming my cup down. "He was my best friend, and pride myself on calling that." I sighed as another round of hysterics threatened me. "And I fell in love with him."

Some tiny part in me realized that my part of the curse was fulfilled. Jack had, after everything I did, managed to hurt me at me weakest. No, it wasn't the same way my mother was hurt. I was hurt in a different way. I hurt worse. Jack was gone. And he wasn't coming back.

Tia placed a gentle hand on my shoulder. "Upstairs, child. He waits for you."

I knew she wasn't talking of Jack but that still didn't keep me from running up there with hope. It didn't damper though when I saw my father, alive and well.

"Oh, Father!" I whispered as he pulled me into a hug. "He's gone, you know. Jack's gone."

He pulled me close and rubbed my back, murmuring sweet soothing words in my hair.

"Would you sail to the ends of the Earth and beyond to fetch back witty Jack and him precious _Pearl_?" Tia asked the group downstairs.

I moved from my father's embrace and back to the top of the stairs. "Yes!" I called. I walked down to great them again. "Yes, I would do anything, anything at all, to get my best friend back."

"Alright," she whispered a little more chipper. "But if you go and brave the weird and haunted shores at world's end…" She moved to Elizabeth. "Then you will need a captain who knows those waters."

My father walked down the short staircase and pulled me into another hug.

The remainder of Jack's crew seemed bewildered.

"So tell me, what's become of my ship?" he asked. My monkey jumped up on his shoulder and screeched.

* * *

I sat with my monkey out on Tia's porch, thinking as I pet him. Since my father's death I'd claimed him, the pesky little guy. He trusted me seen as though I was the only one who never shot him. The black silky water below was so inviting. It beckoned to me.

It reminded me of a simpler time. A time when the gentle swaying motion of a ship rocked me to sleep and I'd forget everything bad that had ever happened to me. A time when all I would have to do was talk it out with my best friend and my troubles would disappear.

My best friend. Jack.

_I wish you were here, Jack. _But the familiar burning never came no matter how hard I wished.

That brought another wave of emotion.

"Oh, Jack," I whispered between silent sobs. "What's become of me? I didn't used to be so… _afectiv_."

He simply looked up at me and smiled, causing me to laugh slightly.

"You've grown up," a gruff voice said behind me.

I rolled my eyes. "But shouldn't I become colder-hearted then?"

Barbossa sat next to me. "Not if you've become more attuned to everyone around you and how they feel. Which you have, much like your mother."

"My mother was a strong woman to send away her only child." I sighed. "I haven't heard from her or of her since I left Romania. Then all of a sudden she's in a jail sail in Port Royal. Along with Marko, my younger sister and niece."

He raised his brow at my admission. "She's always been one to stay out of trouble. She risked a lot to send you away. Heaven only knows how much trouble she got into."

"Little did she know, I was heading for trouble myself, a bunch of knifing pirates."

He chuckled and put his arm around me. "Oh, we're not all that bad. Look at you. And Gibbs, and…. _Jack_."

I looked at him confused. "I thought you didn't like Jack?"

He shrugged and kissed my hair. "I don't _like_ him. I only _hated_ him so much because he was stealing my little girl."

I chuckled and leaned in to him, my hand ghosting over the monkey's head. "I'm not so little anymore, Daddy."

"No," he sighed in to my hair and rubbed my arm. "No, you're not."

"I have to go back. I have to save them."

Barbossa nodded. "I know."

* * *

_**A/N: And here's where I originally was going to end it, but I decided to let it go one more chapter. I purposely spoke in a British accent all day today and I have to say I did pretty good, especially considering how bad it was back in June. Unfortunately, now I can't stop it. It's becoming habitual.**_

_Afectiv - Emotional_

_**Till tomorrow!  
Lyra Raine Sparrow!**_


	17. Chapter 17

_**Chapter Seventeen**_

She stepped off the gangplank and onto the docks of Port Royal. She took a deep breath and looked about. Very little had changed since the last time she had been here.

A man dressed in a naval uniform stepped forth. "Ah, Mrs. Church, I presume?"

The woman nodded, a slight smile gracing her features. "James. Lord Beckett is expecting me."

"Yes. I must admit," Norrington said as he led Luna to an awaiting carriage, "I half expected you to arrive on the _Black Pearl_."

Luna looked at him in shock. "Commodore, the _Pearl _is gone. Lost in Davy Jones' Locker, as well as its captain."

Norrington scrunched his face. "My apologies, I had no idea. And it's Admiral now, actually."

Luna smiled a tad bit as she climbed into the carriage. "_Felicitari_," she spoke then added at Norrington's puzzled face; "Er, congratulations. I'm sure you're very proud of you accomplishment."

Admiral Norrington nodded. "Yes, of course Madam. But it was with your help that I achieved it. If you hadn't insisted on me taking the heart, I'd probably still be a rum-soaked former commodore stranded on Tortuga wallowing in self-pity, no better than a pirate."

Luna quirked an eyebrow and the half insulting compliment. "You're welcome." She failed to mention that she did it for her own well being, but for some reason she couldn't form the words. Ah well, she needed to rid herself of "piratey" habits.

The door was shut and the carriage jolted forward. The ride to Lord Beckett's home seemed quite agonizingly long. She could smell the fresh sea air though it was nearly overpowered by the stuffy, silky fragrance of the carriage. She knew this was the closest she'll get to feel the sea breeze against her face, tugging at her long silky hair. For a very long time.

The carriage came to a sudden halt and the door opened. A servant man held out his hand for Luna to take as he helped her out. He led her through the rose filled patio garden. Before she made it to the door though, she was caught off guard by a shocking sight. Standing under a black lattice arch of the most particularly perfect shade of cream roses, looking decidedly dashing in his uniform, as much as she hated to admit it, was Lord Cutler Beckett with a slight smile on his smug face.

"Well, don't you look charming?" Luna sneered.

Beckett closed the short distance between them and took her hand. "Only the best for my fiancée," he said bending to kiss her hand. "Welcome home."

Luna rolled her eyes. "Great. A true gentleman." She jerked her hand back and continued into the house. "You can quit the act Cutler. It's just us and your servants. And while they may gossip, none of it leaves the house. You can take my word for it."

"Fair enough," he replied, impressed with her straightforwardness. He motioned to a passing maid. "Henrietta, see to it Luna finds her room alright, and that her needs are sought after." He walked over to a cast iron glass-topped patio table. "Oh, and find her something more suitable to where for the luncheon."

Henrietta nodded and ushered Luna in to the manor. "Your room is this way madam."

Luna smiled her thanks and followed the young girl. "Henrietta, was it?"

"Yes, madam?"

"Please call me Luna. And forget about propriety with me please?"

Henrietta led her up a flight of stairs and down a hall. She stopped in front of a door and drew a key to open it. "Of course, madam- uh, Luna."

"Much better." Luna stepped around the maid and into the room.

She was stunned to find it the same perfect shade of cream as the roses. To the right of the door was an ornate desk and chair. In the center of the left wall was a dazzling mahogany canopy bed. To either side was a small table made of the same wood. At the foot of the bed was the very same chest that held her valuables at the governor's home. Directly across from the bed a fire place. Pushed in between two sets of French doors on the far wall was a large mahogany chest of drawers. The doors lead out to a balcony that over looked the back garden.

"_Magnific_," she breathed.

"Pardon?"

"Splendid," Luna corrected, though, she was sure the Romanian word sounded similar to an English equivalent.

"Oh, yes. Well, Lord Beckett was worried you wouldn't like it," Henrietta said honestly.

Luna arched her eyebrow. "Oh?" Luna looked back to the chest at the foot of the bed and ran to it. She lifted the lid to find everything was there. Her eyes were drawn to a particular journal. "Where did Lord Beckett find this?" she asked herself as she picked it up. She wiped the thin layer of dust off of the cover.

The cover had a crescent moon carved from sapphire and various sizes of diamond incrusted into the black leather cover. On the bottom right corner her name was engraved in silver. "It was mine from when I was a lived on the _Black Pearl_. Jack gave it to me for my birthday right before he was mutinied. I thought I had lost it when I moved in with the governor."

She dug through the chest looking for a small coin bag that held a few of her more precious jewelry. She pulled out a thin silver chain that held a small key. Luna used the key to unlock the journal's clasp and flipped through pausing to read a few entries. A slight breeze blew through the open balcony door and turned the pages in the book. It stopped when it reached a piece of folded parchment. Curious, Luna opened it. The first thing she noted was it was torn in half. The second was that the writing was Jack's.

A sharp knock on the door stopped her from noticing anything else. Luna looked up to see the same man that helped her from the carriage.

"Missus Church, Lord Beckett requests that you dress formally for tonight's dinner," the man said.

Henrietta nodded and ushered him out of the room before pulling Luna over to the closet to change.

_**End of Part II**_

* * *

_**A/n: Finally! So I just finished the *NEW* cover photo for the series. I have to say I have out done myself on it.**_

_**So that's all for now.  
Lyra Raine Sparrow**_


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